Who Are the Dalits

Even in the 21st century, an entire population in India and Hindu regions of Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh is often considered contaminated from birth. Called Dalits, they face discrimination and even violence from members of higher castes, or traditional social classes, particularly in access to jobs, education, and marriage partners. Dalits, also  known as Untouchables, are members of the lowest social group in the Hindu caste system. The word Dalit, meaning oppressed or broken, is the name members of this group gave themselves in the 1930s. A Dalit actually is born below the caste system, which includes four primary castes: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriya (warriors and princes), Vaishya (farmers and artisans), and Shudra (tenant farmers and servants). Indias Untouchables Like the Eta outcasts in Japan, Indias Untouchables performed spiritually contaminating work that nobody else wanted to do, such as preparing bodies for funerals, tanning hides, and killing rats or other pests.  Doing anything with dead cattle or cowhides was particularly unclean in Hinduism. Under both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, jobs that involved death corrupted the workers souls, making them unfit to mingle with other people. A group of drummers who arose in southern India called the Parayan were considered untouchable because their drumheads were made of cowhide. Even people who had no choice in the matter (those born of parents who were both Dalits) were not allowed to be touched by those of higher classes nor ascend the ranks of society. Because of their uncleanliness in the eyes of Hindu and Buddhist gods, they were banned from many places and activities, as ordained by their past lives. An Untouchable couldnt enter a Hindu temple or be taught to read. They were banned from drawing water from village wells because their touch would taint the water for everyone else. They had to live outside village boundaries and could not walk through the neighborhoods of higher caste members. If a Brahmin or Kshatriya approached, an Untouchable was expected to throw himself or herself face down on the ground, to prevent even their unclean shadows from touching the higher caste. Why They Were Untouchable Indians believed that people were born as Untouchables as punishment for misbehavior in previous lives. An Untouchable could not ascend to a higher caste within that lifetime; Untouchables had to marry fellow Untouchables and could not eat in the same room or drink from the same well as a  caste  member. In Hindu reincarnation theories, however, those who scrupulously followed these restrictions could be rewarded for their behavior by a promotion to a higher caste in their next life. The caste system and the oppression of Untouchables still hold some sway in Hindu populations. Even some non-Hindu social groups observe caste separation in Hindu countries. Reform and the Dalit Rights Movement In the 19th century, the ruling British Raj tried to end some aspects of the caste system in India, particularly those surrounding the Untouchables. British liberals saw the treatment of Untouchables as singularly cruel, perhaps in part because they usually didnt believe in reincarnation. Indian reformers also took up the cause. Jyotirao Phule coined the term Dalit as a more descriptive and sympathetic term for the Untouchables. During Indias push for independence, activists such as Mohandas Gandhi also took up the Dalits cause. Gandhi called them the Harijan, meaning children of God, to emphasize their humanity. Following independence in 1947, Indias new constitution identified groups of former untouchables as scheduled castes, singling them out for consideration and government assistance. As with the Meiji Japanese designation of former Hinin and Eta outcasts as new commoners, this emphasized the distinction rather than formally assimilating the traditionally downtrodden groups into society. Eighty years after the term was coined, the Dalits have become a powerful political force in India and enjoy greater access to education. Some Hindu temples allow Dalits to serve as priests. Although they still face discrimination from some quarters, the Dalits are untouchable no longer.​

Women s Fight Against Domestic Violence - 992 Words

According to Domestic Abuse Shelter, every year, there are around 4000 women die due to domestic violence. In addition, other statistic shows that seventy-five percentage of the abusers killed their partners when victims tried to leave home or even after they left (1). According to community overcoming relationship abuse (CORA), every year, around 10 million of kids in United States live with parents in abuse relationships. Moreover, the department of justice shows that thirty percent of murdered women in the U.S. killed by her partner. Cycle of abuse According to Oklahoma Department of Human Services, when a tension builds over in the relationship. Partners will try to do almost anything to keep the other partner from getting upset. A good example of this is a Leslie Morgan Steine’s story in her Ted Talk when she said, â€Å"I didn’t know he was abusing me. held those loaded guns to my head, pushed me down stairs, threatened to kill our dog†.Sheepfoldm organization interviewed with a teenager victim of abusive relationship, a teenager girl said, I remember feeling warm liquid on my hands, and I opened my eyes to see what it was and it was a puddle of my blood and he still wouldn t stop. According to Domestic Violence Organization, the tension will continue until reach to the peak in this stage. Also, verbal harassment or even a threat of physical assault may occur (3). The abuser will feel sorry for his action, and promise the victim this will be the last time to doShow MoreRelatedDomestic Violence And Violence Against Women1662 Words   |  7 Pagesdefinition of domestic violence is, â€Å"Violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm†. Domestic violence takes place in many forms, including physical assault, threats, sexual abuse, intimidation, etc. Domestic violence destroys the meaning behind a home and the feeling of a safe environment. No one man, woman, or child deserves to be abused. The abuser is the one who should take responsibility of the violence occurring, notRead MoreDomestic Violence Is Now Broadly Defined As All Acts Of1586 Words   |  7 Pages Domestic violence is now broadly defined as all acts of physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence committed by a family member or intimate partner. It has to do with a pattern of power and control exerted by partner or family member upon another. The constancy and severity of the abuse can vary however, it always has a negative impact on the relationship. The devastating impact can last for a long time crossing generations or a lifetime. The battered women movement goal was to seeRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Women Act1639 Words   |  7 Pagesfederal government to take part in the battle against domestic violence. This new law, named the VAWA, acknowledged that violence against women is a crime with far-reaching, harmful consequences for families, children and society (Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Collection, A Report to Congress under the Violence Against Women Act, 1 [NIJ Research Report 1996]). To fight this violent crime problem, VAWA made federal domestic violence crimes to be act against by the Department of Justice. Reliable withRead MoreIntimate Partner Violence1364 Words   |  6 PagesIntimate partner violence (IPV), the researcher’s coinage of domestic violence, occurs more than one would think and it is not singularly a United States problem but a global concern. Why and how is IPV a global concern in this modern era? Surely no woman in her right mind would choose to stay in an abusive relationship? Unfortunately, until recently, IPV has been running rampant, being overlooked as an issue just between partners, not a public health concern. Research on domestic violence can enlightenRead MoreThe Violence Against Women Act1498 Words   |  6 PagesElimination of Violence Against Women which called religious and cultural customs an excuse for gender-based violence (Goldscheid, 2008). In the early ‘90s, the Surgeon General referred to domestic violence as a threat to the health of Americans and in a similar move, the American Medical Association created a campaign targeted at ending domestic violence (Eisler, 1992). Taking its first formal stance on the issue, the outcry of the people lead the United States to pass the Violence Against Women Act inRead MoreBatter Women Syndrome- Domestic Violence Essay1097 Words   |  5 Pagesrelevant to our society today is in relation to women who suffer from domestic violence/ battering. Batter Women Syndrome (BWS) has rec ently been reformed in the United States as the Batter Person Syndrome (BPS) to include men as potential victims of domestic violence/ batter. The term batter person syndrome has been recognized as a social issue and legal changes have taken place in the United States in order to protect individuals affected by domestic violence/ battering. My overall goal for this essayRead MoreDomestic Violence : A Serious Problem1381 Words   |  6 PagesThere is no denying that domestic violence directed towards women is a serious problem all over the world, and here in the United States. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that every 9 seconds, a woman is physically assaulted or abused in America.(NCADV) To understand domestic violence, one must first understand what domestic violence can consist of, and that is; the use or threat to use physical, sexual, or verbal behavior to force the partner to do something one wants; toRead MoreMcp Proposal1292 Words   |  6 Pages(S ervices †¢ Training †¢ Officers †¢ Prosecutors) Violence Against Women Formula Grant Program (STOP Program) to support Maine communities in their efforts to develop and strengthen effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to respond to violent crimes against women and to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving violent crimes against women. Violence against women crimes includes sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. Eligible applicants are stateRead More Violence Against Women Act of 1994 Essay1391 Words   |  6 PagesFor centuries domestic violence has been perceived as a private matter private of which the government has not been concerned about nor was it considered the government’s business to intervene on behalf of a battered spouse. The unlawful nature of this failure for state or federal government intervention against this crime contributed to the systematic abuse of women in the family. The tradi tions, customs, and common law found in both British and American societies continued right up until the lastRead MoreChile, A South American Country1496 Words   |  6 PagesChile s population is composed predominantly of mestizos, who are descended from marriage between the Spanish colonizers and the indigenous people. Out of those 18 million people, 11 million are just consisted of women population. Ever since, Ferdinand Magellan, the first European to set foot on what is now called Chile, women have been neglected of many of their rights. Facing domestic violence and gender-based violence, there are only a few things that the government â€Å"approves† Chilean women doing

Part Seven Chapter 2 Free Essays

‘No problem,’ he muttered. He was glad. He could not imagine what they had left to talk about. We will write a custom essay sample on Part Seven Chapter 2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now This way he could sit with Gaia. A little way down Church Row, Samantha Mollison was standing at her sitting-room window, holding a coffee and watching mourners pass her house on their way to St Michael and All Saints. When she saw Tessa Wall, and what she thought was Fats, she let out a little gasp. ‘Oh my God, he’s going,’ she said out loud, to nobody. Then she recognized Andrew, turned red, and backed hastily away from the glass. Samantha was supposed to be working from home. Her laptop lay open behind her on the sofa, but that morning she had put on an old black dress, half wondering whether she would attend Krystal and Robbie Weedon’s funeral. She supposed that she had only a few more minutes in which to make up her mind. She had never spoken a kind word about Krystal Weedon, so surely it would be hypocritical to attend her funeral, purely because she had wept over the account of her death in the Yarvil and District Gazette, and because Krystal’s chubby face grinned out of every one of the class photographs that Lexie had brought home from St Thomas’s? Samantha set down her coffee, hurried to the telephone and rang Miles at work. ‘Hello, babe,’ he said. (She had held him while he sobbed with relief beside the hospital bed, where Howard lay connected to machines, but alive.) ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘How are you?’ ‘Not bad. Busy morning. Lovely to hear from you,’ he said. ‘Are you all right?’ (They had made love the previous night, and she had not pretended that he was anybody else.) ‘The funeral’s about to start,’ said Samantha. ‘People going by †¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ She had suppressed what she wanted to say for nearly three weeks, because of Howard, and the hospital, and not wanting to remind Miles of their awful row, but she could not hold it back any longer. ‘†¦ Miles, I saw that boy. Robbie Weedon. I saw him, Miles.’ She was panicky, pleading. ‘He was in the St Thomas’s playing field when I walked across it that morning.’ ‘In the playing field?’ In the last three weeks, a desire to be absorbed in something bigger than herself had grown in Samantha. Day by day she had waited for the strange new need to subside (this is how people go religious, she thought, trying to laugh herself out of it) but it had, if anything, intensified. ‘Miles,’ she said, ‘you know the council †¦ with your dad – and Parminder Jawanda resigning too – you’ll want to co-opt a couple of people, won’t you?’ She knew all the terminology; she had listened to it for years. ‘I mean, you won’t want another election, after all this?’ ‘Bloody hell, no.’ ‘So Colin Wall could fill one seat,’ she rushed on, ‘and I was thinking, I’ve got time – now the business is all online – I could do the other one.’ ‘You?’ said Miles, astonished. ‘I’d like to get involved,’ said Samantha. Krystal Weedon, dead at sixteen, barricaded inside the squalid little house on Foley Road †¦ Samantha had not drunk a glass of wine in two weeks. She thought that she might like to hear the arguments for Bellchapel Addiction Clinic. The telephone was ringing in number ten Hope Street. Kay and Gaia were already late leaving for Krystal’s funeral. When Gaia asked who was speaking, her lovely face hardened: she seemed much older. ‘It’s Gavin,’ she told her mother. ‘I didn’t call him!’ whispered Kay, like a nervous schoolgirl as she took the phone. ‘Hi,’ said Gavin. ‘How are you?’ ‘On my way out to a funeral,’ said Kay, with her eyes locked on her daughter’s. ‘The Weedon children’s. So, not fabulous.’ ‘Oh,’ said Gavin. ‘Christ, yeah. Sorry. I didn’t realize.’ He had spotted the familiar surname in a Yarvil and District Gazette headline, and, vaguely interested at last, bought a copy. It had occurred to him that he might have walked close by the place where the teenagers and the boy had been, but he had no actual memory of seeing Robbie Weedon. Gavin had had an odd couple of weeks. He was missing Barry badly. He did not understand himself: when he should have been mired in misery that Mary had turned him down, all he wanted was a beer with the man whose wife he had hoped to take as his own †¦ (Muttering aloud as he had walked away from her house, he had said to himself, ‘That’s what you get for trying to steal your best friend’s life,’ and failed to notice the slip of the tongue.) ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I was wondering whether you fancied a drink later?’ Kay almost laughed. ‘Turn you down, did she?’ She handed Gaia the phone to hang up. They hurried out of the house and half jogged to the end of the street and up through the Square. For ten strides, as they passed the Black Canon, Gaia held her mother’s hand. They arrived as the hearses appeared at the top of the road, and hurried into the graveyard while the pall-bearers were shuffling out onto the pavement. (‘Get away from the window,’ Colin Wall commanded his son. But Fats, who had to live henceforth with the knowledge of his own cowardice, moved forward, trying to prove that he could, at least, take this †¦ The coffins glided past in the big black-windowed cars: the first was bright pink, and the sight robbed him of breath, and the second was tiny and shiny white †¦ Colin placed himself in front of Fats too late to protect him, but he drew the curtains anyway. In the gloomy, familiar sitting room, where Fats had confessed to his parents that he had exposed his father’s illness to the world; where he had confessed to as much as he could think of, in the hope that they would conclude him to be mad and ill; where he had tried to heap upon himself so much blame that they would beat him or stab him or do to him all those things that he knew he deserved, Colin put a hand gently on his son’s back and steered him away, towards the sunlit kitchen.) Outside St Michael and All Saints, the pall-bearers were readying themselves to take the coffins up the church path. Dane Tully was among them, with his earring and a self-inked tattoo of a spider’s web on his neck, in a heavy black overcoat. The Jawandas waited with the Bawdens in the shade of the yew tree. Andrew Price hovered near them, and Tessa Wall stood at some distance, pale and stony-faced. The other mourners formed a separate phalanx around the church doors. Some had a pinched and defiant air; others looked resigned and defeated; a few wore cheap black clothes, but most were in jeans or tracksuits, and one girl was sporting a cut-off T-shirt and a belly-ring that caught the sun when she moved. The coffins moved up the path, gleaming in the bright light. It was Sukhvinder Jawanda who had chosen the bright pink coffin for Krystal, as she was sure she would have wanted. It was Sukhvinder who had done nearly everything; organizing, choosing and persuading. Parminder kept looking sideways at her daughter, and finding excuses to touch her: brushing her hair out of her eyes, smoothing her collar. Just as Robbie had come out of the river purified and regretted by Pagford, so Sukhvinder Jawanda, who had risked her life to try and save the boy, had emerged a heroine. From the article about her in the Yarvil and District Gazette to Maureen Lowe’s loud proclamations that she was recommending the girl for a special police award to the speech her headmistress made about her from the lectern in assembly, Sukhvinder knew, for the first time, what it was to eclipse her brother and sister. She had hated every minute of it. At night, she felt again the dead boy’s weight in her arms, dragging her towards the deep; she remembered the temptation to let go and save herself, and asked herself how long she would have resisted it. The deep scar on her leg itched and ached, whether moving or stationary. The news of Krystal Weedon’s death had had such an alarming effect on her that her parents had arranged a counsellor, but she had not cut herself once since being pulled from the river; her near drowning seemed to have purged her of the need. Then, on her first day back at school, with Fats Wall still absent, and admiring stares following her down the corridors, she had heard the rumour that Terri Weedon had no money to bury her children; that there would be no stone marker, and the cheapest coffins. ‘That’s very sad, Jolly,’ her mother had said that evening, as the family sat eating dinner together under the wall of family photographs. Her tone was as gentle as the policewoman’s had been; there was no snap in Parminder’s voice any more when she spoke to her daughter. ‘I want to try and get people to give money,’ said Sukhvinder. Parminder and Vikram glanced at each other across the kitchen table. Both were instinctively opposed to the idea of asking people in Pagford to donate to such a cause, but neither of them said so. They were a little afraid, now that they had seen her forearms, of upsetting Sukhvinder, and the shadow of the as-yet-unknown counsellor seemed to be hovering over all their interactions. ‘And,’ Sukhvinder went on, with a feverish energy like Parminder’s own, ‘I think the funeral service should be here, at St Michael’s. Like Mr Fairbrother’s. Krys used to go to all the services here when we were at St Thomas’s. I bet she was never in another church in her life.’ The light of God shines from every soul, thought Parminder, and to Vikram’s surprise she said abruptly, ‘Yes, all right. We’ll have to see what we can do.’ The bulk of the expense had been met by the Jawandas and the Walls, but Kay Bawden, Samantha Mollison and a couple of the mothers of girls on the rowing team had donated money too. Sukhvinder then insisted on going into the Fields in person, to explain to Terri what they had done, and why; all about the rowing team, and why Krystal and Robbie should have a service at St Michael’s. Parminder had been exceptionally worried about Sukhvinder going into the Fields, let alone that filthy house, by herself, but Sukhvinder had known that it would be all right. The Weedons and the Tullys knew that she had tried to save Robbie’s life. Dane Tully had stopped grunting at her in English, and had stopped his mates from doing it too. Terri agreed to everything that Sukhvinder suggested. She was emaciated, dirty, monosyllabic and entirely passive. Sukhvinder had been frightened of her, with her pockmarked arms and her missing teeth; it was like talking to a corpse. Inside the church, the mourners divided cleanly, with the people from the Fields taking the left-hand pews, and those from Pagford, the right. Shane and Cheryl Tully marched Terri along between them to the front row; Terri, in a coat two sizes too large, seemed scarcely aware of where she was. How to cite Part Seven Chapter 2, Essay examples

Blood Brothers The Narrator Essay Example For Students

Blood Brothers The Narrator Essay To what extent do you think the Narrator is presented as a moral guardian or a figure of doom in the play? Give reasons for your opinions. Throughout the play of Blood Brothers I think that the Narrator is presented as a moral guardian. It could be argued that he is a figure of doom because of his actions, but I disagree with this statement because I see him in a different light and I feel that Willy Russell wants his audience to look beyond his actions and see the positive reasons why he delivers bad news. I believe that the Narrator makes his actions obvious and that Willy Russell has made sure that his audience see him as evil straight away because of he says and does. But I think that Willy Russell is hoping that his audience look deeper and dont judge him based on his outward thoughts and sayings. I feel that there is something hidden underneath all the bad forebodings which he gives. There is something else to him and I think this is why I can see him as a moral guardian. From the opening of Act one he sets the scene. He steps forward and starts to recite the prologue to his audience. In this soliloquy he tells the story of the Johnstone twins how one was kept and one was given away never knowing that they shared one name, till the day they died. This soliloquy is very effective in the fact that it allows the Narrator to prepare the audience for the morbid tale which will unfold in front of them. Its true that what he says is very ominous, but this was the task which he was given, he had to prepare the audience for what was to come, as the Narrator of the play it is his duty to make the audience understand what is happening through out the play. He goes on to judge Mrs Johnstone, encouraging the audience to do the same; he places the blame upon her shoulders. This shows just how powerful his role is in the play. He can blame this woman for killing her two sons, so does this mean he has a further insight into her? I mean is he somehow linked to her conscience? Does he know what thoughts are running through her mind? Because you cant blame some in front of a large gathering of people without being sure that the blame is rightfully placed on that person, if its not then you will face the consequences. The Narrator takes this risk, but is it a risk? I personally dont think it is. I think that he knows what he is doing and he believes that Mrs Johnstone deserves to be blamed. Willy Russell has placed the Narrator in some different roles. It is significant to notice that in each of these different roles he delivers bad news, which therefore presents him as a figure of doom. The first role which he takes on is as a Milkman. He tells Mrs Johnstone he is up to here with hard luck stories no money, no milk. Its interesting to see how he shows no care or concern for Mrs Johnstone or her family, instead he remains impartial and detached. Next we see him as the Gynaecologist and he delivers the unforeseen news to Mrs Johnstone, that she is expecting twins. While Mrs Johnstone opens up to him about her problems, he seems unconcerned and shows no compassion or care for her, instead he simply says, congratulations. And the next one please, Nurse. The next one shows just how much he doesnt care, he feels that he is only doing his job and this woman is just another one on the list. While he is in these roles, its like he is an outsider looking in, he doesnt know anything about Mrs Johnstone and instead treats her as he would a stranger. .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .postImageUrl , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:hover , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:visited , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:active { border:0!important; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:active , .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094 .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u086d44cc88ca9fbc3a04803c1efb7094:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Is Shylock a Villain or a Victim that Deserves Our Sympathy EssayBut he is not like this while he is the Narrator, instead he has an opinion about everyone, he knows them and he knows the cause of their actions. You can see the contrast of his character and we have to ask ourselves why does he have an opinion? Most Narrators in plays stay impartial, they tell the audience what is happening but they never say what they think of it. This Narrator is different, he does care, even though at the start of the play it seems as if he thinks bad of everyone, we see a different side to him as it progresses. He really is a character in the play in his own right. After Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons make their pact he enters again and says, How swiftly those whove made a pact, Can come to overlook the fact. Or wish the reckoning to be delayed But a debt is a debt, and must be paid. Here I can see him taking on the role of a moral guardian, as he is showing that he disapproves of the pact that has been made. I know that some would argue that he acts as a figure of doom as he is stating ominously that Mrs Johnstone cannot escape from her fate. But I dont agree. I think that he recognises that Mrs Johnstone will not find it easy giving up her child but warns that she will have to. He is not necessarily blaming anyone here, instead he is reminding them that their pact is binding and they will have to carry it out. I sense that since this pact has been made he feels that it should be carried out, he is like a judge here when he says, must be paid. He knows they cant go back on their word because they swore on the bible, so could he have been sent to make sure that the deed is done? Because of the pact being made on religious grounds, maybe it is his job to make sure that it is carried out. Could he have come from a higher power? Could he be seen as an angel? I think later on in the play we find the answers to these questions. After Mrs Lyons goes back on her promise to Mrs Johnstone, the Narrator is seen again. This time he starts to sing a song which contains very disturbing lyrics. Now yknow the devils got your number, Hes gonna find y Hes knocking at your door. These lyrics most certainly present him as a figure of doom. He builds up the tension of this scene and Willy Russell effectively uses him as a dramatic device to engage the interest of the audience. He creates tension and fear through this song amongst the audience and we expect the worst. I know that this song definitely casts him in a negative light, but we can see the nod to religion here again. He sings about the devil and how he is after both Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons, this is out of character for a devil and I feel that something is not right. If we were to assume that the Narrator is from a higher power then it would be him who would be after Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons for what they have done, but instead he sings about the devil. I think he wants to draw the attention away from himself as we are starting to see him as something else. I feel he is using the devil to highlight the wrong doing which has happened between these two women and how it should have never been allowed to come to past. The one thing which I feel I must point out, is how religion is never openly mentioned in this play and you may be wondering why I keep referring to it, but I can see how some of these events have religion entwined in them. I think religion, though never mentioned is a key part to understand this play and the Narrator himself.