Fountainhead :: essays papers

Fountainhead Fountainhead Book Report Roark and Keating Howard Roark and Peter Keating are two characters whose goals in life are similar, but the manner in which they go about achieving them differs greatly. Howard Roark, the protagonist of the story, is a man whose only passion is architecture and has wanted to be an architect since he was a boy. Peter Keating, the antagonist of the story representing everything Roark hates in society, is a follower in life and whose only prerogative is to get ahead in the world, no matter what the cost or who he has to use in the process. He too strives to be an architect, but his motives are more about money and power unlike Roark, who would work for free if he had to in order to build what he wants to see created as long as he was allowed to do things his way. Throughout the book, the success of the two men in their careers is compared to one another, as well as an analysis on how they go about achieving that success. While more obstacles may lie in the way of Roark's path than of Keating's, he consistently refuses to compromise his integrity no matter what benefits may come of it. Keating, on the other hand, has no concern about what means he has to use to accomplish what he's all about, money and power. In my paper, I will attempt to show how the differences in these two character's personalities affect how the world and individuals close to them perceive them and their actions. 2 Keating's mother, for example, is an overprotective, overbearing women with whom Roark and Keating both lived with while attending Stanton University. Keating's mother appears to be a woman that enjoys imposing her views on others by looking for weak spots in their personalities and creeping in through those venues. An example of this technique in action is displayed with her son Peter, with whom she consistently appeals to his desire for success in life by showing him what great things he could achieve if he would just do as she says, such as marry Dominique Francon, daughter of the owner of the best architecture firm in the country. Her ability to persuade Peter by imposing guilt on him and criticizing his methods of going about things is linked to a weakness in his personality; he really cares about what other people think.

Vonneguts Changing Women :: essays research papers fc

Vonnegut's Changing Women What follows is an argument to the effect that, in the novels written before 1973, Vonnegut's female characters generally are presented negatively, either as pro-authority anti-individualists or as helpless or male-manipulated victims who never "grow" in either a personal or literary sense. In addition I maintain that, in at least two of Vonnegut's later novels, certain female characters exercise individuality in their own existences and effect positively the awareness and attitudes of male characters. From the beginning of Player Piano (1952) through Slaughterhouse Five (1969), Kurt Vonnegut describes the characters of his various worlds in terms of their victimization at the hands of a dehumanizing, or perhaps a better term might be "deindividualizing," technologically fixated, industrial/militaristic society. Time and time again in these novels the role of the individual is subsumed in the miasma that passes for "social responsibility." Like the real world in which every human being exists, Vonnegut's literary worlds feature nameless and faceless authorities (when such authorities are offered at all) who seem to be the masters in local, regional, global, and sometimes interstellar chess games. Often, as is the case in Vonnegut's 1951 "All the King's Men," these "manipulators" move their all-too-sentient pieces in what at times, for the victims, must seem to be diabolical--and what certainly are tragic--maneuvers. In The Sirens of Titan (1959) and Slaughterhouse Five the "accidental" nature or intergalactic point of view of the authority that seems to be "in charge of things" serves to distance humans from personal responsibility for the results of such maneuvering--as such results are described in the novels. In Sirens, for example, the inappropriate and often asinine behaviors of Malachi Constant are shown to be products of the direct influence of the Tralfamadorians who for millennia have manipulated human societies simply to communicate with a mechanized messenger shipwrecked on Saturn's largest moon. The same excuse can be made for the ultimate human manipulator in the novel, Winston Niles Rumfoord, as it can for the actions and attitudes of Bee, Rumfoord's wife and the mother of Constant's son, Chrono. That the communications sent to Salo on Titan consist of such inane and, given the non-human nature of the receiver, unimportant content as, "Be patient. We h aven't forgotten about you," and, "You will be on your way before you know it" (271), only makes more pathetic the fact that Tralfamadore has influenced directly the rise and fall of countless human civilizations in order to deliver such messages.

Organizational performance Essay

Today’s society is diverse and rapidly changing and it is the organisation’s ability to adapt or be in fit with the external environment that will determine its overall performance. Ethical issues arise throughout all organisations daily activities but it is the continual debate about what is right or wrong that will shape ethical decision making now and for generations to come. This essay aims to investigate culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisation’s ability to fit in with the environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:80) the internal environment is â€Å"composed of present employees, management and business culture†. This essay will investigate how culture plays a role in the organisations overall success. In addressing the issue it will be shown how the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. How changing an organisation’s culture can help the organisation be in fit with the external environment and how the success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee moral development. It is argued that the organisation’s performance depends on a fit between the organisation and its external environment. Body Key point 1: How the external environment has changed in terms of how organisations are evaluated. The external environment has changed with respect to how organisations are evaluated today. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:79) the external environment is â€Å"all elements existing outside the organisation’s limitations that have the possibility to affect the organisation†. Companies around the world have started to realise that investors are not concerned exclusively with financial performance (Tschopp, 2003). The days of companies being  evaluated on their financial performance are gone and companies are now finding that they are being evaluated on a more overall perspective. Increasing the ethical obligations can help an organisation when adapting to the external environment. According to ( Samson and Daft, 2003:147) ethics is † the code of honourable principles and standards that governs the behaviours of an individual or group with respect to what is correct or incorrect.† If ethics is incorporated as part of the organisation this can lead to improvements in the workplace and towards society. The triple bottom line approach has been introduced as a way of achieving overall success both internally and externally throughout the organisation. Triple bottom line entails reporting on economic, social, and environmental issues. Corporate success should be considered not just by the traditional financial bottom line, but also by its social/ethical and environmental performance ( Samson and Daft, 2003). Triple bottom line has not only put the emphasis on managers to not only make a profit but to also consider the surrounding external environment that they could be affecting. Businesses now report annually on social and environmental performance as well as their financial performance because they know it provides a more complete measure of long-term value creation and strategic opportunity (Tuchman. J, 2004). Key Point 2: Organisations need to change to fit. They can do this by changing an organisation’s culture to fit in with the external environment. The external environment has altered and it’s the organisation’s ability to change to keep in touch with the external environment that determines its performance. One way an organisation can change to keep in contact with the environment is by altering it’s culture. According to (Samson and Daft. 2003: 94) culture is â€Å"the knowledge, beliefs, values, behaviours and ways of viewing shared among members of a society†. Organisational culture has been defined, in very simple but intuitive words, as â€Å"the way we do things around here† (Domenec, 2003). The notion that we can make others do what we want them to do by persuading them to want to do  it is one that has a long pedigree. This notion became formalised as an integrative view of organisation culture and became more ingrained after the publishing of the book In Search of Excellence in 1982 (Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., 1982) Moving towards greater corporate responsibility may require culture change or at least cultural re-enforcement. The fundamental values that exemplify cultures at these and other organisations can be understood through the noticeable manifestations of symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies. Any organisation’s culture can be interpreted by observing these factors (Samson and Daft, 2003:95). By incorporating symbols, stories, heroes, slogans and ceremonies into an organisation’s culture they will be able to adapt to the changing external environment. According to (Samson and Daft, 2003:97) slogan is † a phrase or sentence that succinctly expresses a key corporate value†. Hungry Jacks for example has the slogan † The burgers are better at Hungry Jacks†. They have incorporated this slogan as part of their culture to try and separate them from the other competitors. By incorporating the different types of culture into and organisation, may change the way managers and employees think to incorporate social and natural environmental responsibilities into the workforce. Key Point 3: The success of changing culture may depend on the level of employee ethical development. The success of changing culture can depend on numerous factors but the level of employee ethical development plays a role. The three levels of personal moral development could pose a problem for employee ethical development. The theory developed by Kohlberg goes through the different stages of employee development from pre-conventional to post conventional. Starting at the pre-conventional level which focuses on right vs. wrong and the behaviour is on one’s self to the conventional level which focuses on the  group rather then one’s self. Then lastly Kohlberg’s post-conventional level of individual development which focuses on abstract and self-chosen principles (Arnold and Lampe, 1999). Kohlberg’s theory brings attention to the fact that if employees are going in different directions it can hinder the success of an organisation. If there are employees who are focusing on what is right vs. wrong and other employees who are following self chosen principles even though they know people hold different views. In this sense, the greatest danger to modern organisations is the betrayal of â€Å"ambitious, selfish, untrustworthy people who care more for their own progression than the mission of the organisation† (Domenec, 2003). Since each person is unique, each one can focus on personal accomplishment in very different ways (Domenec, 2003). Conclusion This essay investigated culture within the internal environment and how culture plays a role in an organisation’s ability to fit in with the environment. In support of this argument there has been evidence supported to show how organisations incorporate culture to be in fit with the changes of external environment. Organisations are finding that they are being evaluated not only on their financial status but also their social and environmental performance. This has meant that organisations have had to change their culture to compensate in the change in evaluation. An organisation culture can be observed through such factors as slogans and symbols which now have to coincide with the external environment. The success of the changing culture can depend on the level of employee ethical development and at what stage everyone is at. If an organisation is united and following the same path or views they may find greater overall success. Views that link an organisation’s culture with its performance seek to shape managers and employees understandings in a common and coherent direction (Kolter and Keskett, 1992). Bibliography: 1. Samson, D., & Daft, R.L. (2003) Management: Pacific rim edition. Victoria: Thomson. 2. Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr., In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 3. Tuchman, J. 2004, Big Owners Balance Triple Bottom Line [online], Available from URL: http://www.enr.com/news/bizlabor/archives/040809-1.asp 4.

Linguistics and Chomsky S Theory Essay

Chomsky believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any of the human languages. He thinks that certain linguistic structures that children use so accurately, must have already stuck in their mind. Chomsky believes that every child has a ‘language acquisition device’ or LAD. LAD encodes the major principles of a language and its grammatical structures into the child’s brain. Then the children only have to learn new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures form the LAD to form sentences. He pointed out that a child could not possibly learn a new language through imitation alone simply because the language spoken around them is of a higher form. Adult’s speech is often broken up and even sometime ungrammatical. His theory applies to all languages as they all contain; nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels. Every language is extremely complex, often with subtle distinctions which even native speakers are unaware of. However, all children, regardless of their intellectual ability, become fluent in their native language within five or six years. Evidence to support Chomsky’s theory †¢Children learning to speak never make grammatical errors such as getting their subjects, verbs and objects in the wrong order. †¢If an adult deliberately said a grammatically incorrect sentence, the child would notice. †¢Children often say things that are ungrammatical such as ‘mama ball’, which they cannot have learnt passively. †¢Mistakes such as ‘I drawed’ instead of ‘I drew’ show they are not learning through imitation alone. †¢Chomsky used the sentence ‘colourless green ideas sleep furiously’, which is grammatical although it doesn’t make sense, to prove his theory: he said it shows that sentences can be grammatical without having any meaning, that we can tell the difference between a grammatical and an ungrammatical sentence without ever having heard the sentence before, and that we can produce and understand brand new sentences that no one has ever said before. Evidence against Chomsky’s theory †¢Critics of Chomsky’s theory say that although it is clear that children don’t learn language through imitation alone, this does not prove that they must have an LAD – language learning could merely be through general learning and understanding abilities and interactions with other people.

The Shadow – Creative Writing

The sun rose from behind the hill, at tower hill, as it climbed higher in the sky, its rays beamed through the window pains of the roof of the train station. Mr Hitchin's stood staring at the train schedule; he didn't know where to go, London, or Leeds? Mr Hitchin's was looking for work, tower hill just wasn't good enough, he had bigger and better things in mind, he wanted to make the money and give the orders, but this time he wasn't going to let happen what happened last time. He had decided, he was going to Leeds. He was wearing a black trilby hat, and a black pin striped suite, he was also wearing a long brown trench coat, that traipsed along the floor as he made his way to the ticket office. â€Å"One way to Leeds† he said to the ticket officer. â€Å"What time?† said the ticket officer? â€Å"12:35, please if that's the one that goes the earliest† questioned Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Yes sir, that is the earliest train to Leeds today sir, that's à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½12.50 please† Mr Hitchin's handed the officer the money â€Å"Thank you sir, you look familiar have we meet before? you remind me of somebody that I saw in the paper, but I can't remember what for, ow well was probably somebody else, have a pleasant journey sir† â€Å"Thank you† Mr Hitchin's replied. He made his was to the platform ready to catch the train, the time was now 12:39, 4 minutes late, two police officers walked through the entrance of the train station, Mr Hitchin's stood with his back to the wall, around the corner from the platform, wedged between the wall and a vending machine. The police officers were getting closer to him, as they walked down the platform asking people questions and showing them a piece of paper. â€Å"Excuse me sir, have you seen this man?† Mr Hitchin's looked at the sheet of paper there was a picture of him and the words ‘wanted, for attempted murder' on it! He quickly jerked his head down and slightly pushed the brim of his hat over the edge of his face. â€Å"No, sorry† he quickly replied. The train was now at the platform, and people were boarding it, one of the officers' looked him up and down. â€Å"Excuse me sir, do you mind if you come with us, so we can ask you some questions?† â€Å"Of course† Mr Hitchin's replied, as they made there way to the exit of the train station, Mr Hitchin's turned and ran to the doors of the train, the police officers stumbled behind him trying to catch him. As Mr Hitchin's jumped onto the train the doors firmly closed behind him. The train set off, as the police officers ran at the side of it trying to catch it, but the train carried on going, all the way to Leeds. Mr Hitchin's was scared; the police were onto him again†¦ Mr Hitchin's was awoken as the train jerked to a halt; people clambered over each other as they exited the train. He rose from his seat, collected his belongings, and left the train as well. Here he was Leed's city station, he looked around there was police at the entrance and still the wanted posters were around on the walls as well. He made his way over to a news paper stand, were he brought a copy of the Yorkshire post, were he had happened to make the front page, again, the headline read â€Å"convict on run for attempted murder†. He jerked quickly hading over the cash and makes a swift exit of the station, he turned out of the station, and made his way to the Queens hotel. He exited the hustle and bustle on the streets, and made his way into the reception of the queen's hotel. The warm air welcomed him with the smell of peaches, he swiftly made his way to the front desk, were he rang for some service. â€Å"Hello sir, and welcome to the queens hotel† said a man, who emerged from behind the counter, he was quite short and had jet-black hair. â€Å"Hi, I'd like a room for one, for 4 week's,† said Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Yes sir, the total will be a total of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2,100, when would you like to pay?† â€Å"On my departure† replied Mr Hitchin's â€Å"Very well sir, we do insist of a deposit of 10% sir† Mr Hitchin's handed the receptionist the money â€Å"Thank you sir, her is your room key, it is room number 24 it is up the stairs and is the first room on your right†. Mr Hitchin's made his way to his room, he opened the door and walked in, he paced over to the window and peered out, the streets were full of people making there way to work, what was he going to do? He needed a job, so he grabbed the Yorkshire post he bought earlier and started to look for a decent job. Half an hour had past, he still hadn't found anything. He needed a new identity, a now look, so he grabbed his phone and called Steve, â€Å"hi Steve, it's Greg, well I'm in Leeds and as you know in a spot of trouble and I need a cover, can you help?† â€Å"Meet me outside the royal armoires in 2 hours† replied Steve. Mr Hitchin's set off to meet Steve, he walked down bridge gate end, over the river Aire, and onto dock street, soon he reached armouries way and waited for Steve to arrive. He saw Steve inside, and sharply made his way inside, making sure his identity wasn't recognisable. He sat in an arm chair by the side of the door, Steve walked over and sat down next to him, he placed an envelope that he had in his hand on the arm of the chair, Steve then got up, leaving the envelope on the chair arm and walked away, Mr Hitchin's took the envelope and placed it in his inside pocket, and made his way back to the hotel. On his way back, Mr Hitchin's noticed that there was a black ford escort following him, with two men on foot, who also seemed to be following him, Mr Hitchin's quickened up his pace, he was just about to turn into the street were the hotel was, when a police officer stepped in front of him and said â€Å"Greg Hitchin's, I think we need to talk†

Scholarly Text Reflection

My scholarly text â€Å"How useful is plantations in learning anatomy' was written by a group of researchers. Some elements that helped me comprehend the text w as the vocabulary because it was anatomy terminology that is in my anatomy and physiology cal as. What also helped me was the texts formation because it was in order from the experiment .NET that was taken place. I was also familiar with the tables and charts in the article as well.Some key ideas from the text that I understood was the type of experiment the at was being made along with why and what it was for. Also knew what plantations was b cause of the surrounding vocabulary that helped me figure out what it meant, it means the hands on work with materials and cadavers. I believe that the plantations works well with lea ring anatomy or any subject with students learning about it. These contribute because it all reel dates back to anatomy and the human body and the subject of the article.One place that confused me or prov okes a question is the tables and charts. T here are some words and numbers on them that don't make sense because don't know w what they refer to. Although understand most of the table and its data, I don't fully get it. A s tragedy could use to address my confusion with is to reread the text that talks about the tables and charts, then go over the tables and charts again. If still can't figure out my confusion I would ask my teacher for help or from an expert.

Spirit Bound Chapter Nine

ROBERT DORU WAS EASY TO SPOT. It wasn't because he looked like Victor. It wasn't even because of any dramatic running-toward-each-other reunion type thing between him and his brother. Rather, it was Lissa's mind that tipped me off. I saw Robert through her eyes, the golden aura of a spirit user lighting up his corner of the restaurant like a star. It caught her by surprise, and she stumbled briefly. Spirit users were too rare a sight for her to be fully used to them. Seeing auras was something she could tune in or out, and just before â€Å"turning his off,† she noted that even though his had the brilliant gold she saw in Adrian, there was also a feel of instability to it. Sparks of other colors flashed there too, but they trembled and flickered. She wondered if it was a mark of spirit's insanity setting in. His eyes lit up as Victor approached the table, but the two didn't hug or touch. Victor simply sat down beside his brother. The rest of us stood there awkwardly for a moment. The whole situation was too weird. But it was the reason we'd come, and after several more seconds, my friends and I joined the brothers at the table. â€Å"Victor†¦Ã¢â‚¬  breathed Robert, eyes wide. Robert might have had some of the Dashkov facial features, but his eyes were brown, not green. His hands toyed with a napkin. â€Å"I can't believe it†¦. I've wanted to see you for so long†¦.† Victor's voice was gentle, as it had been on the phone, as if he were talking to a child. â€Å"I know, Robert. I missed you too.† â€Å"Are you staying? Can you come back and stay with me?† Part of me wanted to snap that that was a ridiculous idea, but the desperation in Robert's voice sparked a tiny bit of pity in me. I remained silent, simply watching the drama before me unfold. â€Å"I'd hide you. It'd be great. Just the two of us.† Victor hesitated. He wasn't stupid. Despite my vague claims on the plane, he knew the odds of me letting him go were nonexistent. â€Å"I don't know,† he said quietly. â€Å"I don't know.† The waiter's arrival jolted us out of our haze, and we all ordered drinks. Adrian ordered a gin and tonic and wasn't even carded. I wasn't sure if it was because he looked twenty-one or was convincing enough with spirit. Regardless, I wasn't thrilled about it. Alcohol muted spirit. We were in a precarious situation, and I would have liked him at full strength. Of course, considering he'd been drinking earlier, it probably didn't matter now. After the waiter left, Robert seemed to notice the rest of us. His eyes passed over Eddie quickly, sharpened at Lissa and Adrian, and lingered on me for a long time. I stiffened, not liking the scrutiny. He finally turned back to his brother. â€Å"Who have you brought, Victor?† Robert still had that oblivious, scattered air to him but it was lit with suspicion now. Fear and paranoia. â€Å"Who are these children? Two spirit users and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His gaze fell on me again. He was reading my aura. â€Å"One of the shadow-kissed?† For a moment, I was astonished at his use of the term. Then I remembered what Mark, Oksana's husband, had told me. Robert had once been bonded to a dhampir–and that dhampir had died, drastically speeding up the deterioration of Robert's mind. â€Å"They're friends,† said Victor smoothly. â€Å"Friends who'd like to talk to you and ask you some questions.† Robert frowned. â€Å"You're lying. I can tell. And they don't consider you a friend. They're tense. They keep their distance from you.† Victor didn't deny the friend claim. â€Å"Nonetheless, they need your help, and I promised it to them. It was the price for me being allowed to visit you.† â€Å"You shouldn't have made promises for me.† Robert's napkin was now in shreds. I kind of wanted to give him mine. â€Å"But didn't you want to see me?† asked Victor winningly. His tone was warm, his smile almost genuine. Robert looked troubled. Confused. I was again reminded of a child and was starting to have my doubts that this guy had ever transformed a Strigoi. He was spared an answer yet again when our drinks arrived. None of us had even picked up our menus, much to the waiter's obvious annoyance. He left, and I opened mine without really seeing it. Victor then introduced us to Robert, as formally as he might at any diplomatic function. Prison hadn't dulled his sense of royal etiquette. Victor gave first names only. Robert turned back to me, that frown still on his face, and glanced between Lissa and me. Adrian had said that whenever we were together, our auras showed that we were linked. â€Å"A bond†¦ I've almost forgotten what it was like†¦ but Alden. I've never forgotten Alden†¦Ã¢â‚¬  His eyes grew dreamy and almost vacant. He was reliving a memory. â€Å"I'm sorry,† I said, surprised to hear the sympathy in my words. This was hardly the harsh interrogation I'd envisioned. â€Å"I can only imagine what it must have been like†¦ losing him†¦.† The dreamy eyes grew sharp and hard. â€Å"No. You cannot. It's like nothing you can imagine. Nothing. Right now†¦ right now†¦ you have the world. A universe of senses beyond those of others, an understanding of another person that no one can have. To lose that†¦ to have that ripped away†¦ it would make you wish for death.† Wow. Robert was pretty good at killing conversation, and we all kind of sat there hoping the waiter would return this time. When he did, we all made halfhearted attempts at ordering food–except Robert–most of us deciding on the spot. The restaurant served Asian cuisine, and I ordered the first thing I saw on the menu: an egg roll sampler. With food ordered, Victor continued taking the firm hand with Robert that I seemed incapable of managing. â€Å"Will you help them? Will you answer their questions?† I had a feeling that Victor was pushing Robert on this not so much as a way to pay back us rescuing him, but rather because Victor's scheming nature was dying to know everyone's secrets and motivations. Robert sighed. Whenever he looked at Victor, there was such a strong expression of devotion and even idol worship. Robert probably couldn't refuse his brother anything. He was the perfect type to play into Victor's plans, and I realized I should possibly be grateful that Robert had grown unstable. If he'd been in full control of his powers, Victor would never have bothered with Lissa last time. He would have already had his own private spirit wielder to use however he wanted. â€Å"What do you want to know?† asked Robert blearily. He addressed me, apparently recognizing my leadership. I glanced at my friends for moral support and received none. Neither Lissa nor Adrian approved of this mission in the first place, and Eddie still didn't know its purpose. I swallowed, steeling myself, and directed my full attention to Robert. â€Å"We heard you freed a Strigoi once. That you were able to convert him–or her–back to their original state.† Surprise flashed on Victor's usually composed face. He certainly hadn't expected this. â€Å"Where did you hear this?† demanded Robert. â€Å"From a couple I met in Russia. Their names are Mark and Oksana.† â€Å"Mark and Oksana†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Again, Robert's gaze slipped away for a moment. I had a feeling this happened a lot, that he didn't spend much time in reality. â€Å"I didn't know they were still together.† â€Å"They are. They're doing really great.† I needed him back in the present. â€Å"Is it true? Did you do what they said? Is it possible?† Robert's responses were always preceded by a pause. â€Å"Her.† â€Å"Huh?† â€Å"It was a woman. I freed her.† I gasped in spite of myself, hardly daring to process his words. â€Å"You're lying.† It was Adrian who spoke, his tone harsh. Robert glanced at him with an expression amused and scornful. â€Å"And who are you to say that? How can you tell? You've bruised and abused your powers so much, it's a wonder you can even touch the magic anymore. And all these things you do to yourself†¦ it doesn't truly help, does it? Spirit's punishment still affects you†¦ soon you won't be able to tell reality from dream†¦.† The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. â€Å"I don't need any physical signs to see that you're lying. I know you are because what you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever .† â€Å"That which is dead doesn't always stay dead†¦.† Robert's words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. I shivered. â€Å"How? How did you do it?† â€Å"With a stake. She was killed with a stake, and in doing so, was brought back to life.† â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"That is a lie. I've killed plenty of Strigoi with stakes, and believe me, they stay dead.† â€Å"Not just any stake.† Robert's fingers danced along the edge of his glass. â€Å"A special stake.† â€Å"A stake charmed with spirit,† said Lissa suddenly. He lifted his eyes to her and smiled. It was a creepy smile. â€Å"Yes. You are a clever, clever girl. A clever, gentle girl. Gentle and kind. I can see it in your aura.† I stared off at the table, my mind in overdrive. A stake charmed with spirit. Silver stakes were charmed with the four main Moroi elements: earth, air, water, and fire. It was that infusion of life that destroyed the undead force within a Strigoi. With our recent discovery of how to charm objects with spirit, infusing a stake had never even occurred to us. Spirit healed. Spirit had brought me back from the dead. In joining with the other elements within a stake, was it truly possible that the twisted darkness that gripped Strigoi could be obliterated, thus restoring that person to their rightful state? I was grateful for the food's arrival because my brain was still moving sluggishly. The egg rolls provided a welcome opportunity to think. â€Å"Is it really that easy?† I asked at last. Robert scoffed. â€Å"It's not easy at all.† â€Å"But you just said†¦ you just said we need a spirit-charmed stake. And then I kill a Strigoi with it.† Or well, not kill. The technicalities were irrelevant. His smile returned. â€Å"Not you. You can't do it.† â€Å"Then who†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I stopped, the rest of my words dying on my lips. â€Å"No. No.† â€Å"The shadow-kissed don't have the gift of life. Only the spirit-blessed,† he explained. â€Å"The question is: Who's capable of doing it? Gentle Girl or Drunken Sod?† His eyes flicked between Lissa and Adrian. â€Å"My wager would be on Gentle Girl.† Those words were what snapped me out of my stunned state. In fact, they were what shattered this whole thing, this far-fetched dream of saving Dimitri. â€Å"No,† I repeated. â€Å"Even if it was possible–and I'm not sure if I believe you–she can't do it. I won't let her.† And in a turn of events almost as astonishing as Robert's revelation, Lissa spun toward me, anger flooding our bond. â€Å"And since when can you tell me what I can or can't do?† â€Å"Since I don't recall you ever taking guardian training and learning to stake a Strigoi,† I returned evenly, trying to keep my voice calm. â€Å"You only punched Reed, and that was hard enough.† When Avery Lazar had tried to take over Lissa's mind, she'd sent her shadow-kissed brother to do some dirty work. With my help, Lissa had punched him and kept him away. It had been beautifully executed, but she'd hated it. â€Å"I did it, didn't I?† she exclaimed. â€Å"Liss, throwing a punch is nothing like staking a Strigoi. And that's not even counting the fact that you have to get near one in the first place. You think you could get in range before one bit you or snapped your neck? No.† â€Å"I'll learn.† The determination in her voice and mind was admirable, but it took guardians decades to learn what we did–and plenty still got killed. Adrian and Eddie looked uncomfortable in the midst of our bickering, but Victor and Robert seemed both intrigued and amused. I didn't like that. We weren't here for their entertainment. I tried to deflect the dangerous topic by turning back to Robert. â€Å"If a spirit user brought back a Strigoi, then that person would become shadow-kissed.† I didn't point out the obvious conclusion to Lissa. Part of what had driven Avery crazy (aside from normal spirit usage) had been bonding with more than one person. Doing so created a very unstable situation that rapidly led all people involved into darkness and insanity. Robert's eyes grew dreamy as he stared beyond me. â€Å"Bonds form when someone dies–when their soul has actually left and moved onto the world of the dead. Bringing it back is what makes them shadow-kissed. Death's mark is upon them.† His gaze suddenly snapped onto me. â€Å"Just as it is on you.† I refused to avoid his eyes, despite the chill his words sent through me. â€Å"Strigoi are dead. Saving one would mean its soul was brought back from the world of the dead too.† â€Å"No,† he argued. â€Å"Their souls do not move on. Their souls linger†¦ neither in this world nor the next. It's wrong and unnatural. It's what makes them what they are. Killing or saving a Strigoi sends the soul back to a normal state. There is no bond.† â€Å"Then there's no danger,† Lissa said to me. â€Å"Aside from a Strigoi killing you,† I pointed out. â€Å"Rose–â€Å" â€Å"We'll finish this conversation later.† I gave her a hard look. We held each other's gazes a moment, and then she turned to Robert. There was still an obstinacy in the bond I didn't like. â€Å"How do you charm the stake?† she asked him. â€Å"I'm still learning.† I again started to chastise her and then thought better of it. Maybe Robert was wrong. Maybe all it actually took to convert a Strigoi was a spirit-infused stake. He only thought a spirit user had to do it because he had done it. Allegedly. Besides, I'd much rather Lissa preoccupy herself with charming than fighting. If the charm part sounded too hard, she might have to give up altogether. Robert glanced at me and then Eddie. â€Å"One of you must have a stake on you. I'll show you.† â€Å"You can't take a stake out in public,† exclaimed Adrian, in what was a remarkably wise observation. â€Å"It might be weird for humans, but it's still obvious that it's a weapon.† â€Å"He's right,† Eddie said. â€Å"We could go back to the room after dinner,† said Victor. He had that perfectly pleasant and bland look on his face. I studied him, hoping my expression showed my distrust. Even with her zeal, I could sense the hesitation in Lissa too. She wasn't keen on following any suggestion of Victor's. We'd seen in the past how desperately far Victor would go in attempting to fulfill his plans. He'd convinced his own daughter to turn Strigoi and help him escape jail. For all we knew, he was planning the same for– â€Å"That's it,† I gasped, feeling my eyes go wide as I stared at him. â€Å"That's what?† Victor asked. â€Å"That's why you had Natalie turn. You thought†¦ you knew about this. What Robert had done. You were going to use her Strigoi strength and then have him turn her back.† Victor's already pale face went paler, and he seemed to age before our eyes. His smug look disappeared, and he looked away. â€Å"Natalie is dead and long gone,† he said stiffly. â€Å"There's no point in discussing her.† Some of us made an attempt to eat after that, but my egg roll seemed tasteless now. Lissa and I were thinking the same thing. Among all of Victor's sins, I'd always considered him convincing his own daughter to turn Strigoi to be the most awful. It was what had really sealed the deal for me about him being a monster. Suddenly, I was forced to reevaluate things–forced to reevaluate him. If he'd known he could bring her back, it made what he had done terrible–but not as terrible. He was still evil in my mind, no question. But if he had believed he could bring Natalie back, then that meant he believed in Robert's power. There was still no way I was letting Lissa near a Strigoi, but this incredible tale had become slightly more credible. I couldn't let it go without further investigation. â€Å"We can go up to the room after this,† I said at last. â€Å"But not for long.† My words were to Victor and Robert. Robert seemed to have faded into his own world again, but Victor nodded. I gave Eddie a quick glance and got a curt nod of a different sort from him. He understood the risk in taking the brothers to a private place. Eddie was telling me he would be extravigilant–not that he wasn't already. By the time we finished dinner, Eddie and I were both rigid and tense. He walked near Robert, and I stayed by Victor. We kept Lissa and Adrian between the brothers. Yet, even keeping close, it was hard as we cut through the crowded casino. People stopped in our path, walked around us, through us†¦ it was chaos. Twice, our group got split by oblivious tourists. We weren't too far from the elevators, but I was getting uneasy about the possibility of Victor or Robert running off through the mob of people â€Å"We need to get out of this crowd,† I shouted over to Eddie. He gave me another of his quick nods and took an abrupt left that caught me by surprise. I steered Victor in that same direction, and Lissa and Adrian sidestepped to keep up with us. I was puzzled until I saw that we were approaching a hall with an EMERGENCY EXIT sign on it. Away from the busy casino, the noise level dimmed. â€Å"Figure there are probably stairs here,† Eddie explained. â€Å"Crafty guardian.† I flashed him a smile. Another turn showed us a janitorial closet on our right and ahead of us: a door with a symbol for stairs. The door appeared to lead both outside and to upper floors. â€Å"Brilliant,† I said. â€Å"You're, like, on the tenth floor,† pointed out Adrian. It was the first time he'd spoken in a while. â€Å"Nothing like a little exercise to–damn.† I came to an abrupt halt in front of the door. It had a small warning sign saying that an alarm would go off if the door was opened. â€Å"Figures.† â€Å"Sorry,† said Eddie, like he was personally responsible. â€Å"Not your fault,† I said, turning. â€Å"Back we go.† We'd have to take our chances in the crowd. Maybe the roundabout detour had tired Victor and Robert out enough to make escape unappealing. Neither of them was that young anymore, and Victor was still in bad shape. Lissa was too tense to think much about being led around, but Adrian gave me a look that clearly said he thought this traipsing was a waste of his time. Of course, he thought this whole Robert thing was a waste of time. I was honestly surprised he was coming with us at all back to the room. I would have expected him to stay in the casino with his cigarettes and another drink. Eddie, leading our group, took a few steps back toward the casino down the hallway. And then it hit me. â€Å"Stop!† I screamed. He responded instantly, coming to a halt in the narrow space. A bit of confusion followed. Victor stumbled into Eddie in surprise, and then Lissa stumbled into Victor. Instinct made Eddie reach for his stake, but mine was already out. I'd grabbed it as soon as the nausea had swept me. There were Strigoi between us and the casino.