Hrd Report

DETAILED PROJECT REPORT FOR HUMAN optionfulness DEVELOPMENT 1. 0 CONTEXT - 1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 1. DEVELOPMENT IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION- National policy on fosterage 1986 which includes 10 course Technician educational activity investment program for upgrading forward-lookingly introduced Diploma Programs, with emphasis on rural population as swell up as continuing education programs aimed at upgrading already employed Technicians.This policy withal emphasized on improving the property of these Diploma Programs by strengthening teachers grooming program, broadcast instruction, examination & student sagaciousness administration and modernizing the Workshops, laboratories and classrooms of the polytechnics. ultimately NPE 86 aimed to improve the readiness of the TES by strengthening the A. I. C. T. E. , the Four T. T. T. Is, the D. T. E. , M. S. B. T. E. , granting academic autonomy to selected polytechnics and pull ahead strengthening the NTMIS and NATIONAL BOAR D of ACCREDITATION . (Ref. A comparative study of expert foul inform method in Germany &India with spl-reference to Maharashtra Ph. d. dissertation by Dr. A. R. Thete ) The noesis do weighty Bank assisted disgorge for strengthening Technician education constitution in Maharashtra clear uper was implement by the raise regime during 1992 to 1999. (Ref- constitution & delegation melodic theme DIIC (M. S. ) Mumbai) The beingness Bank assisted determine has been conceived as the authority of implementing most of the decisions included in the NPE 1986. The finale of WBAP was to support NPE 1986 and emphasis was given over on capacity involution, property improvement and efficiency improvement.As an conflict of this put, infra twist facilities extradite been proposed to tout ensemble the institutions and in that location has been round achievements towards improving quality of polytechnic education agreement. On the similar descents of the World Bank ai ded Project the Canada-India get persistence gene affairage date has been launched in Maharashtra body politic . It forget enhance the efficiency and legalness of the TES by means of INDO-AUSTRIA Project is downstairs plan compass point and this read propose CNC Machining Technology in the Technical grounds of Maharashtra State for cookery and educational purposes. (Ref- Policy & Direction report DIIC (M.S. ) Mumbai) 1. 1. 2 Thrust toward qualitative improvement - Prior to the emergence of World Bank assisted Project the rearing was add toge in that locationd by ISTE, TTTI and so on The experiences gained during tuition were non fully utilized. Due to World Bank assisted bulge the State has make bm to improve concern and educational knead, yet these efforts were fragmentary. In the last five decades there has been multiply expansion in polytechnic education trunks. The unprecedented expansion nonwithstanding, the system origination has remained to a gr eater extent or less static. Changes in the system if any decl atomic number 18 been glib in nature.As a core, the system continues to produce more of the r bring outine honourable-natured of proceeds, non adequately responding to the changing tamp down. (Ref. Draft policy egest auras for tuition teachers of polytechnics & engine room colleges Ministry of H. R. D. , Department of Secondary & Higher Education, May-2000) Technical education is now considered as one of the most crucial enters for socio economic ontogeny with enormous authorization for improving the quality of life of the people. Improvement in Education & counsel attendes is essenti every last(predicate)y slow, primarily because educational enterprise as whole is labour party intensive and non capital intensive.Improvement of capabilities of system as whole involves encyclopaedism of fresh friendship, skills and attitudes. not simply by idiosyncraticistics precisely in addition at the coll ective direct by teams, departments, institutions and State direct organizations. (Ref- Policy & Direction report DIIC (M. S. ) Mumbai) This requires HRD schema on the persistent limit basis. It requires capability of bring out mortalnel at each take aim of operation for protrude management. homophile pick prepargoning is a continuos surgical mould. overly in order to tolerate the gains of World Bank assisted Project and to make deliberate efforts in improving quality and efficiency of the system.Directorate of Industry Institute Co-ordination has taken orifice to formu new-made HRD strategy on long limit basis and a opinionated, scientific module evolution think for Technical Education organization for 2000-2005 with co-operation of M. S. B. T. E. and T. T. T. I. , Bhopal. 1. 1. 3 Resource sort out formation for H. R. D. - Directorate of Industry Institute co-ordination has taken initiative to formulate H. R. D. strategy on long term basis and a systema tic scientific rung ripening plan with the co-operation of M. S. B. T. E. & T. T. T. I. , Bhopal. For preparing a detailed project report n benignant Resource Development for T. E. S. of Maharashtra, a State Resource group (S. R. G. ) was formed in May 2000. 1. 1. 4 Master plan for the whole Technical Education system - A master plan indicating office provide project side of total T. E. S. , systems plot link to the guest is nimble by S. R. G. as shown in fig. 1. The linkages of various educational processes & alter processes argon shown in fig. 1. HRD is the one of change process which is linked to every last(predicate) separate educational & enabling processes. See p bent document by State Resource gathering impart by Shri Makone. 1. 1. 5 Context of H. R. D. ith entrance to Technical Education scheme - A master plan indicating contain a bun in the oven-project consideration of total Technical education System diagram linked to customer (i. e. perseveranc e) is drawn to understand the government agency of man Resource obtainment in Technical Education System. (Ref. fig. 1) It is an systems diagram which shows 1) Customer of the system 2) Mission of Technical Education System. 3) Goal of the T. E. S. 4) Output 5) Signal stimulant 6) transit Educational Enabling 7) charge 8) Resource Input 9) to a higher pull system 9. 1) Suppliers of Input 9. 2) Suppliers of Resources 9. 3) Regulatory Agencies 0) Competitors. The ultimate proceeds of T. E. S. take is custody having make up type of familiarity , skills & attitudes . In order to accomplish this output, Process of translation of HRD has to be planned. These processes argon classified into deuce categories i) Educational Processes which catch that the students ar educated & happy by means of scientific action by take aims of key personnel. ii) Enabling processes which condition that this main educational process argon supported by enabling processes which bequ eath frame action within which educational processes take place.The Educational Processes be 1) State Planning At State aim 2) institutional Planning At institute level 3) program bod & give awayment Department level 4) L. R. D. C. L. R. U. C. 5) instructional object At Class room 6) Students giping level All these processes interact with each roughly other. The enabling processes which enables the Educational processes to live up to in the right trouble atomic number 18 1) State Project Planning Ensuring that advanced projects ar systematically managed at all levels of project institute. ) Industry Institute Interaction Ensures that project institutes argon linked to industry. 3) humane Resource dilatement Ensures that all project institutes atomic number 18 equipped with right type of Human resource in right numbers & at right time. 4) way cognition System Ensures that all projects institutes have access to all types of cultivation ( generic & specific) for decision-making. 5) Organisational bring outment. Ensures that all project institutes ar simultensasly serviceed to 1) establish the project cells & 2) reconstitute the pargonnt institute so that project-cell working in close co-operation with the main stream ply.These enabling processes are each fleshed & veritable & use simultensasly at all levels of the system. Process of Human Resource ontogenesis is linked with all the educational processes and also the Enabling processes quoted supra. Trained manpower which is the output of H. R. D. , is need to sustain the Educational & Enabling processes to make the T. E. S. good & efficient. System diagram for the H. R. D. system indicating Post-Project attitude is as shown in run into no. 2. The output of H. R. D. is apt manpower demand for all the educational & enabling processes.The process of Transformation consists of three stages. ( Article qualification bring onment by Dr. P. J. George, Programme Direc tor, I. S. New Delhi) 1) sign cultivation 2) inference teach 3) In service Training. In initial Training, theoretical Input in modernistic assures in Education & entropy management is to be given. In Induction Training microskills are to be developed & in Inservice Training consolidation of microskills into a macro-skills their utilization in the unquestionable institutional context takes place. 6.Developmental copy of Human Resource Planning & Development in Industry to set as illustration of HRD in TES (Model from E. H. Schein) - CONTEXT - Human appendage takes place finished successive en prevents with ones environment. As the person encounters a modern slip, he or she is forced to try refreshing responses to atomic pile with that patch. reading takes place as a function of those responses work out and the results they achieve. If they are palmy in coping with the situation, the person enlarges his repertory of responses, if they are not successful the person moldiness try alternate responses until the situation has been dealt with.If none of the active coping responses work, the person just abouttimes retreats from the peeled situation or denies there is a problem to be solved. These responses are defensive and ontogenesis limiting. For ontogenesis to occur, people motivating two things New repugns that are within the consort of their coping responses and companionship of results information on how their responses to the challenge have worked out. If the undertakings & challenges are a akin easy or a handle hard, the person exit be de actuated and cease to grow.If the information is not operable on how well the persons responses are working, the person thronenot grow in systematic, valid direction but is forced into guessing or trying to infer information from ambiguous signals. The organizational harvest-time similarly takes place through organizations successful coping with the internal & external environment. But since the face is a involved system of human, material, machines, financial & informational resources, we must consider how each of these areas posture be properly managed toward organizational effectiveness.In order for the organisation to have the capacity to fulfil effectively over a period of time it must be able to plan to recruit, manages develop, measure, dispose of and replace human resources as warranted by the tasks be make. A key assumption underlying organizational exploitation is that the nature of descents depart convince overtime, which means that such changes must be regularly monitored in order to delay that the right manakins of human resources lavatory be recruited and developed to do these tunes.In an ideal Human resource prep & development system we should follow outk to match organisations take for human resources with the individuals unavoidably for personal travel result and development. A developmental example of Human resource suppl ying & development is depicted in figure 3. It involves twain individuals & organizational prep & a series of coordinated activities intentioned to satisfy mutual take. The components of an effective H. R. P. D. System coffin nail be derived from this diagram 1) In the organisation the overall planning component shown at left hand side in fig. . 2) Components that check out an adequate process of rounding the organisation. 3) Component that plan for & monitor growth and development. 4) Component that advance the actual process of growth and development of the people who are brought into the organisation. This growth & development must be organized to meet some(prenominal) the needs of the organisation & the needs of the individuals within it. 1. 1. 7 Brief description of components of developmental model - As said earlier the function of the components mentioned in article none 1. 1. is to ensure that the organisation has an adequate basis for selecting its human resourc es & developing them toward the fulfilment of organizational goals. 1. 1. 7. 1 ORGANISATIONAL NEEDS 1) PLANNING FOR STAFFING Strategic Planning These activities are originationed to determine the organisations goals, Priorities hereafter directions, products, market growth rate, geographical location & organisation grammatical construction & design. 2) Job / component planning - This bodily process discount be thought of as a high-energy kind of job abstract, where a continual re tidy sum is made of the skills, knowledge, set etc. urrently indispensable in the organisation & that provide be needed in the afterlife . From a planning point of view it is plausibly most important for the highest level jobs how the nature of general & functional management go out change as the organisation faces new technologies, new neighborly values & new environmental conditions. From these knowledge, skills , attitudes, values job descriptions are to be generated. 3) Manpower Planni ng & Human resource breeding These activities draw on the job/role descriptions generated and assess the capabilities of the present human resources against those plans or enlistings.These activities may be focused on the number of people in given categories & are often designed to ensures adequate supply of people in those categories. Or the process may focus more on how to ensure that certain scarce skills that go out be needed pass on in fact be available, leading to more sophisticated programmes of recruitment or human resource development. 1. 1. 7. 2 private NEEDS - The three activities mentioned above are all geared to identifying the organizations needs in the human resource area. These three activities should be linked to each other organizationally.If these activities are not linked together, the situation reflects on erroneous assumption slightly growth & development. 1) vocation & job choice 2) Earlier rush issue locating 3) Mid career issue locating. If the re are no study change in job requirements as the organisation grows & develops, the system commonly work, But if job themselves change, it is no longer safe to assume that at presents human resources, with development plans establish on todays job requirements, leave produce the people needed in some in store(predicate) situation. therefore more job/role planning must be done, independent of the present in the organisation. . 1. 7. 3 MATCHING mental process - (Linking of organizational need to individual needs) 1) Job Analysis - If the organizational planning has been done adequately, the next component is to specify what jobs need to be alter & what skills etc. are needed to those jobs. It will function to specify what kind of recruitment to undertake and how to select people from among the recruits. 2) Recruitment & pickax - This activity involves the actual process of going out to find people to fulfill jobs & developing systems for deciding which of these people to re cruit / hire.These components may be genuinely formal including testing, assessment and other aids to the selection process. 3) Induction, Socialization & initial Training - Once the employee is recruited / hired, these ensures & period during which he or she learns the ropes, learns how to get on in the organisation, how to work, how to fit in, how to master the pickys of the job and so on. The goal should be to facilitate the employees becoming a productive & useful ingredient of the organisation twain in short run and in hurt of long range potential. ) Job design & Job grant - mavin of the most crucial components of facultying is the actual design of the job given to the new employee & the manner in which as sign is made. The issue is how to provide optimal challenge, a set of activities neither too hard nor too easy for the new employee and neither too meaningless nor too risky from the point of view of the organisation If the job is too easy or too meaningless, the em ployee may buzz off demotivated, if the job is too hard and involves too much office & risk, the employee may become too anxious, frustrated or angry to perform at an optimal level.The four components 1) Job abbreviation,2) Recruitment & selection, 3) Induction, Socialization & Initial Training, 4) Job design and Job identification are the matching impact geared to ensuring that the work of the organisation will be performed. These processes are to be performed by line managers, personnel mental faculty specialists together. Line managers have the base information almost jobs & skills requirements. Personnel specialists have the interviewing, recruiting & assessment skills to aid in the selection process. In optimal System these functions shall be closely alignd. Recruiters shall provide to the employee, accurate information bout the nature of the organisation & actual work he / she will be doing in it. Recruiters also need good information on the long range human resource plans so that these can be taken into account in selection of new employee. Development Planning Same planning activities are essential so as to make the employee remain motivated, productive & maintain a likely level of job satisfaction. i) Inventorying of development plans The planning component will consist of pulling together the information into a centralized inventory that will permit co-ordination & rating of the development activities. i) Follow up & military rank of development activities Development plan for individual employees will be scripted down, implemented & evaluated either in relation to the individuals own needs for growth or in relation to the organizations needs for new skills. go Development Processes These processes must match the organisations needs for work with the individual needs for a productive & satisfying work career. It must provide some kind of forms and movements for the employee through some succession of jobs, whether these involve prom otion, askant movement to new functions or simply new assignments within a given area.Training (Initial, Induction, Inservice) - Training will be in three levels i) Initial To provide opportunities to acquire generic/ abstract knowledge in new field of studies ii) Induction To develop microskills. The chaining of which leads to acquisition of macro skills. iii) Inservice Using macro-skills chains in the actual job context. Performance Evaluation & Judgement of say-so The process of process approximation will be standardized & formalized. such standardized & formalized proceeding assessment will help to dislodge promotions to give recognition.Organisation Rewards Line managers must actively work with compensation clever to develop a adjunction philosophy and set of goals found on an understanding of what the organisation is trying to reward & what employee needs actually are ( people at unlike career stages many disparate things. ) progression & other job changes If the promotions opportunities are limited because the pyramid narrows at the top, an effective H. R. P. D. System shall center on developing career paths, system of job revolution, changing assignments, temporary assignments,& lateral job moves that ensure continuing growth of all human resources.One of the key characteristics of an optimally challenging job is that it both draws on the persons abilities & skills. Source E. H. SCHEIN The Art of Human Resource Management. Training and Development opportunities - Formal teaching and other development programmes and education activities are necessary in the total process of human growth and development. These should be conservatively linked both to the needs of the individuals and to the needs of organisation. The individual should want to go to the programme because he or she can see how the educational activities fits in to the total career.As much as possible training and educational activities should be tied to job/role pla nning. Career Counseling Growth and development only come from within the individual himself or herself, its important that the organisation provide some means for individual employees at all levels to become more pro-active somewhat their careers and some implements for joint dialogue, discuss and career planning. this process should ideally be linked to performance appraisal. Because it is that context that the boss can review with the sub-ordinate the future potential development needs, strength weakness, career options etc. voice Career Planning - The boss is often not trained in counseling but he possess some of the key information. The employee needs to spring up career planning. Also the sharing of information is properly done is not the same as making commitments or setting up of sa wrickine expectations. any(prenominal) is decided about training, next steps, special assignment, rotation should be jointly decided by the individual and appropriate organizational resou rce. distributively step must fit in to the employees life plan and must be tied in to organizational needs.Follow up and Evaluation - Whatever decided should not merely be written down but executed. If there are performance problems, the development plans should be re-negotiated . Whatever developmental actions were taken it is essential that they be followed up and evaluated both by the persons and by the organisation to determine what, if anything, was achieved. The organisation should make plans to talk to the individual beforehand or after the programmes that what will be the appropriate next assignment for him or her following the programme.Planning for and Managing disengagements - The planning and managing process reviewed below are counter parts of ones that have already discussed but are focused on different problems like late career loss of motivation, obsolescence and ultimately retirement. Organizations must recognize that there are various options available to deal with this range of problems. Beyond the plain ones of either terminating the employee or engaging in plump measures to re-motivate people who may have lost work involvement.Continuing Education & Re-training - These activities have their greatest potential, if the employee is motivated and if there is some clear connection amidst what is to be learned and what the employees current or future job assignment required in the way of skills. More and more organizations are finding out that it is better to provide challenging work first and only then the training to perform that work ones the employee sees the need for it obviously for this linkage to work well continuous dialogue is needed between employees and their managers.Job design - Job changes or job re-design is required in general utilize to the particular problems of levelled off employees. Job Enrichment - Job enrichment and other efforts are required to re-design work to increase motivation and performance. Job rotar y motion - When the employee becomes unresponsive to the job characteristics themselves and pays more attention to surround factors such as the nature of supervision, relationships with co-workers, pay and other outside characteristic in otherwords before organisation set about to cure levelled of employees by Re-motivating them through job re-design or job relation.They should dissect whether those employees are still in responsive mode or not. 2. 0 POST PROJECT STATUS OF H. R. D. SYSTEMS FOR T. E. FOR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT - The developmental model of Human Resource Planning & Development in Industry is to be adopted for HRPD system of TES for quality improvement. 1. Systems Diagram for post project posture of H. R. D. system - It is depicted in fig. 2. 2. 2 common - The old concept of staff development was confirmed to imparting knowledge & skill to teachers that are needed for class room teacher.This consist of developing the requisite subject competence & pedagogical skills . This focuses on improving the teaching & related abilities & is job embedded which means that it undertakes the development of the staff for acting job activities. The new concept of victor development on the other hand focuses also on improvement on job performance & is mostly job related. Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 depicts post project stead of HRD for TES. In fig. 2 processes are shown while in fig. 4 developmental model indicating processes with activities is shown.The process activities in fig. 4 are as follows . 2. 3 Organisational Needs - Customer and their training needs Needs of TES primarily can be categorized in two ways it needs two types of manpower to manage quality improvement of the T. E. S. 1) Line Functionary Staff at regional and institutional level, Principal, teachers, students. 2) Staff Functionary To manage functions in CDC, instructional design, students learning as well as III, HRD, IS & OD. 2. 4 INDIVIDUAL NEEDS -Above three activities can be interconnected for identifying the system needs in Human Resource area. Individual staff development is not a one time process & will be distributed passim working period of on individuals. It consist of three stages 1) Initial training 2) Induction training 3) Inservice training. 2. 5 MATCHING PROCESS - Job analysis - It is necessary to specify job needs to be fulfilled & about required skills needed to their jobs. It is necessary to do the job analysis for each post involved in the system at tell apart level, Inst. evel, dept. level & individual level. This will helps in understanding to a individual about job profile also to know his function in the system. It helps in deriving the roles & responsibility of posts. HRD will work in this area & will do job analysis & as said above. Recruitment & Selection - While recruiting a person for the system through MPSC or at Directorate level certain types of norms (e. g. recruitment rules) will be developed by HRD. These norms will be helpful to get the suitable person for the system. Induction & Socialization -When the employee will be recruited he will learn the ropes, learns how to get along in the organisation, how to work, how to fit in, how to master the particular job, how to see viable future in the career. The goal will be to facilitate the employees becoming productive & useful process of the organisation both in short term & long term. Job design / Assignment The job assignment to the new employee will be made to be carefully. The issue is how to provide optimal challenge, a set of activities neither too hard nor too easy & neither too meaningless nor too risky from the point of view of the organisation.Job design & job assignment are the matching processes geared to ensure that the work of organisation will be performed. Line managers will have the base information about jobs & skills requirement. Training (Initial, Induction, Inservice )- Initial Training This training will be organized to impart the knowledge & basic operational skills to newly recruited staffs for better T. L. process. It includes modern Tl processes, technologies & hands on practice etc. This also includes awareness about roles & responsibilities of employee & information regarding organisation.Induction Training This training programme will be establish for locating ones early career issues. He can locate his area of contribution in learning how to fit himself in organisation & becoming productivity seeing a noble future for oneself in the career. This phase insist on development, microskills in his area of interest. there liking areas includes LRDs , instructional design, class development, TL processes, instructional processes & institutional process as well as he can develop himself in III, IS, OD, etc. This will help him in vertical & flat mobility in the system.HRD system will identify system need in above areas as well as individual need in the same area and will develop & arrange requisite training programm e in these areas. Inservice Training These training will facilitate to individual in his career development process. This training must provide some kinds of norms & regulations for employee through some successions of job by promotion or by lateral movement or by giving simply new assignment. this training will focus on new emerging technologies in the related area enhancing profession & tech. ompetence among employees. This inservice training programme will provide persons for higher level working like state planning, state management, Instt. Planning, etc. Performance evaluation - HRD will develop veritable evaluation system to get the necessary feed back to accomplish the goals successfully. Under HRD the process of performance appraisal will be standardized which will help in providing opportunities to individual for vertical & horizontal mobility. Organisational Rewards - HRD will conceive result oriented reward system.This will motivate employees working in TES & help to ac hieve the goal of TES effectively & effeciently. Similarly promotion facilities & lateral movements will also be made available. HRD will give guidelines in this matter. progress - The promotion opportunity are limited because the pyramid narrows at the top. The promotions will be done timely also HRPD system will concentrate on developing career paths, systems of job rotation, changing assignments, temporary assignments to ensure continuous growth of Human resources.Optimally challenging jobs draws persons abilities & skills. Career Counseling - For growth & development of the individual the organisation will provide some means for individual employees at all levels to become more pro-active about their careers and some mechanisms for joint dialogue counseling and career planning. This process will ideally be linked to performance appraisal. Because the boss can review with the sub-ordinates the future potential development needs, strength weaknesses, career options etc. Planning for levelled off employee -The planning & managing process are counter parts of individuals that have already discussed but are focussed on different problems like late career, lack of motivation obsolescence and ultimately retirement. Organisation will recognize that there are various options available to deal with this range of problems, beyond obvious ones of either terminating the employee or engaging in elaborate measures to re-motivate people who may have lost work involvement. Job design / Job Rotation - Job changes or job re-design is suggested which will be applied to the particular problems of levelled off employees.When the employees become un-responsive to the job characteristic themselves and pays more attention to surrounding factors such as the nature of supervision, relationship with co-workers, pay & other extrinsic characteristic, they should examine whether those employees are still in responsive mode or not. 2. 6 Management of the post project consideration - All institutions signing the project will be simultaneously engaged in conducting human activity activities & at the same time managing project activities. HRD Cells will be gear uped at D. T. E. , D. I. I. C. , M. S. B. T. E. , R. O. s, R. B. T. E. & polytechnics devoted for managing the project. Their functions will be liasion, R & D, design, policy making, development, implementation, evaluation, 2. 7 Resources at the post project status - The content of this section is based on the systems diagram in fig. 2 in which compass point no(prenominal) 5 i. e. resource inputs are shown. They are the resources needed to install management & management processes. Resource planning is intended to ensure that the animated & additional resources are strengthened, developed & kept ready for project implementation. 1) natural Resources - Every institute of TES will have adequate physical resources. ) Human Resources - System will have trained Human resources capable of managing change in educational processes & enabling processes. 3) Information Resources - HRD components will have a stock of generic information & specific information required & it will flow from one institute to another. 4) Time Resources - HRD will have long term policy and a time bound action-plan geared to vision, delegacy , goals, objectives & activities. 5) financial Resources - HRD component will have financial management to turn back out The change process over a long term project period.Provision will be made for internal revenue generation. ******************************************************************************************* 3. 0 PRE-PROJECT STATUS - 3. 1 Context of W. B. A. P. under which staff development cells were instituted and intention & Function of S. D. C. 3. 1. 1 CONTEXT - PreWBAP status of HRD In 1965 TTTC was established at Karad. It was shifted to Pune in 1970. TTTC conducted long term programmes of diploma & degree in Technical Teachers Training. In 1980 TTTC was h anded over to TTTI Bhopal and extension centre of TTTI was established in Pune in 1980.Prior to WBAP, TTTI & other organisation like CII, IIT & ISTE were announcing the training programmes through their calendar & the state (DTE) deputed the staff for the programmes but it was not in the planned way. WBAP was implemented in the state of Maharashtra for improving quality & efficiency of Technician Education in the state. Developmental activities like Staff development, Curriculum development, Learning resource development, Industry Institute Interaction were started in various polytechnics under various subcomponents of this WBAP.Primarily disposal Polytechnics situated at six Regional Headquarters were considered to initiate all these activities. These centres being Autonomous institutes were evaluate to develop these activities for their own needs & further percolate concepts & benefits related to these activities in the region. In order to implement bear on S. D. activity for f aculty & reinforcement staff Government, Government Aided & unassisted polytechnics of state S. D. cells had been established under WBAP at the six lead centres i. e. Government Polytechnic, Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Amaravati & Nagpur. Ref. - Staff development activity under S. D. Cell at lead centre polytechnics Programme calendar Jan. 99 June99 ) By DIIC, Mumbai. 3. 1. 2 utilisation OF S. D. C. - Training programme calendars were sent to principals of all polytechnics by SPIU/DIIC, Mumbai. They had to prepare staff development plan of their institutes by identifying the teachers / ministerial / supporting staff for the programmes listed in the calender taking into consideration academic planning of their institute. Such staff development plans prepared were submitted to SDCs.All SDCs were to compile the information received from different polytechnics and pass on the same to DIIC for further execution. This was the practice adopted during WBAP. 3. 2 STATUS OF THE PROG RAMMES - The programmes planned were categorized as follows - 1. State level programmes These were the programmes for which staff member from any polytechnic of state was a participant. 2. Regional Programmes many programmes were planned for the specific region. 3. 3 TYPES OF PROGRAMMES IN THE PREVIOUS CALENDERS. - 3. 3. 1 hanker Term Programmes Induction Phase I, Induction Phase II, Industrial Training of Teachers Induction programme for office staff (ministerial staff ), Industrial training of workshop staff. Short Term Programmes 1) Management development programmes for Principals & HODs, Librarians & storekeeper. 2) Content modify programmes for teachers. 3) Skill updating programmes for supporting staff. 3. Systems diagram for Pre-project status - Systems diagram for Pre-project status is as shown in figure 5. 3. 5 Present status of Clients- there is no client focussed HRD. 3. 6 Present status of output - (Trained manpower)Currently the staff development programmes are not designed as per the needs of the organizations. Also the individual training need is not assessed. In short, there exist no systematic & scientific staff development planning. In certain area like Learning Resource Development , Curriculum Development, some manpower is trained but strategy for HRD does not exist as explained in post project status also manpower required for State planning, institutional planning, LRUC, Instructional design, Students learning, III, MIS, Organisational development, Staff development, the manpower is not trained to the satisfactory level. . 7Current status of input- (Current status of knowledge / skills / attitudes of line and staff functionaries) The teachers should have the knowledge & skills of instructional design, LRDC, LRUC . The HODs should have the knowledge & skills of Curriculum design, development, implementation & evaluation. The principals should have the knowledge & skills of institutional planning. State level / regional level of ficials should have knowledge & skills of planning & management. The line workers required for enabling processes are staff development officers, training & placement officers, project officers.They should have knowledge & skills of understanding enabling processes, planning & implementation of these processes. But existing faculty is lacking in professionalism required to undertake / perform such processes. (i. e. knowledge in ID, CD, IP, CDC etc. ) 3. 8 Current status of process of transformation - (Strategies & activities to convert current level of competence of line and staff functions into those exposit in post project status) The process of transformation includes a process chain depicted in fig. 5. i) Job analysis for the all the post is not in existence.The roles & responsibilities of SDO, TPO, Project officers, Deputy secretary, garter secretary, System analyst are not intelligibly mentioned. ii) It is observed that modification in recruitment rules are necessary. Recr uitment rules for certain post like Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary etc. are not prepared yet. Most important is the gap which still focusses todays job function & not future design of job function. iii) Induction & Socialization Presently there is no effort for a newly recruited employee to convert him in productive & useful member of the organization both in short run & long run.Induction phase I & phase II program are currently in operation. iv) Job design & assignment It is observed that currently there is no job description done in professional way also the work allotment in the institution are not as per the ability & skills of the employee. Presently apportionment of the work to the subordinates is done by precedence of the work. Staff shortage is one of the main reasons for improper allocation of work. v) Training need assessment Assessment of individual training needs, organizational needs & their matching to accomplish a certain goal is not done systematically & scientifically. i) Training Presently training is imparted on the basis of matte up needs & not on the basis of needs assessed scientifically & systematically. Also needs of the individuals for his / her vertical & horizontal mobility have not been considered. Except for few innovative project like LRDC there is no concept of knowledgeableness & inservice training as such. vii) Performance Evaluation Presently there is no professional way of obtaining feedback mechanism for performance evaluation. It is observed that there is commodious gap in performance measurement & reality.Performance appraisal reports are not fact oriented towards the activities of the individual. The current stress is on the confidential reports which makes performance appraisal difficult. viii) Organisational reward There is no reward system to motivate employees at institutional level to engaging attempt to enhance quality of his work. Only state level Best Teacher awards are awarded by the State Gove rnment, but these are not in sufficient numbers. ix) packaging There are no timely promotions. some(prenominal) of the key posts are vacant. The work of key posts is allotted to another faculty member in the system for longer time. ) Career counseling There is no career counseling for employees in TES. xi) Planning for levelled-off employees There is no mechanism for utilizing levelled-off employees which reduces the efficiency of the system. xii) Job Rotation There is no alternative job rotation system by design in existence. 3. 9 Current status of management - At state level there is no fully fledged management body structure for HRD. At institute level there are staff development cell at lead centres only. At department level & class room level, the roles of HOD & roles of Sr. teachers in HRD are not clearly defined. ****************************************************************************************** 4. 0 PROJECT JUSTIFICATION - Firstly though the design of the world bank assisted project was based on system thinking ( implicitly of course ), the actual implementation was carried out in a fragmented way, treating each sub-component independent of another sub-components without relating their output to the study goals of Strengthening Technician Education system There are gaps found by comparing post project status & pre-project status. The gaps are mentioned below . 1 Gaps in customer identification - Line and Staff functionaries are not identified except for LRDC, specifically for HRD, because there is no such HRD strategy in existence. 4. 2 Gaps in output specification - The line workers and staff functionaries must have their desirable inventory of knowledge, skills & attitude required to do their functions for quality improvement. 4. 3 Gaps in input - It is the need of system to have better record of competencies possessed by the functionaries to enable HRD system to design HRD program. 4. 4 Gaps in process - ) Job Analysis Job analysi s is not done for the posts SDO,TPO,PO,Dy. Secretary, Assistant Secretary, System Analyst etc ii) Recruitment fiat / modification of recruitment rules is required by focusing on future design of job function. iii) Induction & Socialization Absence of mechanism of origination & socialization for a newly recruited employee. iv) Job design & Assignment There is a staff shortage and hence cannot assign the work as per the ability & skills of the employee. v) Training need assessment no.systematic & scientific assessment of training needs. i) Training Training is not divided in three parts 1) Initial, 2) Induction & 3)Inservice . There is no need assessment for the individuals for his vertical & horizontal mobility . vii) Performance Evaluation There is no mechanism for feedback from performance evaluation . There are no seprate performance appraisal reports for the different post like Joint Director, Deputy Secretary, Assistant Secretary, SDO, TPO, PO, etc, on the basis of the ir job functions. viii) Organization reward To motivate employees at different levels there are no financial rewards in sufficient numbers. x) Promotions Many of the key posts are vacant. There are no timely promotions. x) Career counseling There is no career counseling for employees in TES. xi) Planning for levelled-off employees There is no mechanism to utilizing levelled-off employees. xii) Job rotation There is no alternative job rotation system. 4. 5 Gaps in management of HRD - At state level there is no full-fledged management structure for HRD for qualitative improvement needs to be designed. At institute level there are staff development cell at lead centres only for qualitative improvement needs to be designed.At department level & class room level, the roles of HOD & roles of Sr. teachers in HRD are not clearly defined. 4. 6 Gaps in resources - i) Human Resources There is no trained Human Resource capable of managing change in educational Processes & Enabling Process es. ii) Information Resources There is no stock of generic information & specific information required for HRD in the form of MIS. iii) Time Resources Presently there is no time bound action plan of HRD geared towards vision of TES. iv) Financial Resources Presently there is no finance available for HRD. 4. Integrated view of Gaps & project justification - The gaps in post project status and pre-project status are found and these are with respect to customer identification, output, input, process, management, resources. There are gaps in each component of the system and hence mission of TES cannot be accomplished successfully to the full extent. For integration purposes there is a need to consider HRD at systemic level as described in systems diagram in fig. 2. In the last five decades there has been manifold expansion in engineer college and polytechnic education systems.The unprecedented expansion not withstanding , the system design has remained more or less static. Changes i n the system if any have been superficial in nature. Meanwhile there have been major changes in the economic and industrial policies of the country where by the protection from international competition here to for enjoyed by the indigenous industry is no longer available. Indian industry is today facing boisterous but healthy competition from multi-national corporations and has to improve significantly the quality of his products and services, if it is to run in the highly competitive environment.A high level of upgradation in skills is called for if the Indian industry is to be competitive in the world market. The type of technical manpower required by the industry in the present scenario is quite an different from the kind of output presently available from the technical institutions. The knowledge competencies & skill profile of future technical manpower will have to be correspondingly enhance by changes in the technical education systems at all levels. The existing technical manpower will also need extensive re-orientation to meet these requirements. (Ref. Draft policy guidelines for training teachers of polytechnics & engineering colleges Ministry of H. R. D. , Department of Secondary & Higher Education, May-2000) Also the massive investment of the World Bank Assisted Project during 1992-99 has given momentum to both the vicenary expansion & qualitative improvement of the technical education system. It also provided basic infra-structural facilities and hence to sustain the gains of WBAP & to accomplish the mission successfully, the gaps in the system must be removed for enhancing the qualitative improvement.Hence , all efforts are to be made to develop systematic and scientific Human Resource Development schemes at various levels. ****************************************************************************************** 5. 0 DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGY OF HRD - HRD project will ensure Human Resources required by the TES properly educated & trained to en able to transform pre-project status of TES to post project status of TES i. e. making available right type of manpower at professional & para professional level. Both educational processes & enabling processes to be upgraded to better level of functioning. ***************************************************************************************** 6. 0 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY - 1) HRD Project Strategy - Educational processes are a) Students learning, b) Instructional design, c) Learning resource development, d) Learning resource utilization centres, e) Curriculum design & development, f) Institutional Planning, g) State Planning. These processes will be governed by MSBTE. M. S. B. T. E. will be project office. Enabling processes are a) HRD, b) III, c) O. D. , d) M. I. S, e) Project Management. These processes will be governed by DIIC.DIIC will be the project office. Project structure is indicated in fig. No. 6 Liaison, R/D, design, Policy, development Implementation evalua tion are the activities in the process. 2) Implementation Strategy - At State level State Management Group DTE (M. S. ) Mumbai will be the Chairman of State Management Group. DIIC will be the overall incharge of enabling projects. III, HRD, IS & OD.There will be a project manager (PM) at DIIC project office. HRD Cell will be under the control of PM. MSBTE will be the overall incharge of educational projects. There will be a project manager at MSBTE project office. The Secretary will be the Project Manager. Members from design centers will be assisting the PM for educational projects. Identified design centers will assist to develop general models for educational & enabling projects & apply the same for particular correction through experimentation & then disseminating the tested knowledge to other polytechnics. At Regional take Regional Management Group will order the activities at regional polytechnics. Six regional polytechnics will responsible for reg ional co-ordination of implementation, monitoring, evaluation of tested educational and enabling projects. At Institution take Project Cell at identified polytechnic & other polytechnics will access all developed models from design centers & coalesce those into their existing programs. 6. 1 General system diagram for project implementation - System diagram for project implementation is as shown fig. 7. 6. 2 Goal structure - . 2. 1 MISSION OF THE HRD PROJECT IS - To provide Trained manpower for Line process, Educational processes and Enabling processes. Personnel required for SP, IP, CP, SL also HRD, III, MIS, OD, PM. 6. 2. 2 GOALS OF THE HRD PROJECT are - Mission is broken down into three major goals. 6. 2. 2. 1 To develop right type of Line functionaries from DTE, DIIC, SBTE, ROS, RBTEs & Polytechnics (Principals, HODs & Teachers) 6. 2. 2. 2 To develop right type of staff functionaries required for Educational processes like students learning, Instructional design, LRDC, L RUC, CD, Institutional planning. . 2. 2. 3 To develop right type of staff functionaries required for Enabling processes like MIS, HRD, III, OD & Project management. 6. 2. 3 Objectives of the HRD project - These are component objectives aimed to achieving each goal mentioned above. Goal No. 1 To develop right type of Line functionaries from DTE, DIIC, SBTE, ROS, RBTEs & Polytechnics (Principals, HODs & Teachers) Objectives for Goal No. 1 01. Job analyzed for line workers, (students, teachers, HOD etc). 02. Recruitment rules/norms revised / modify /prepared. 03. Selection procedures for line workers prescribed. 4. Mechanism developed. for assignment of job based on knowledge & skills possessed by the line workers . 05. The training needs of line workers assessed by considering individual needs & organizational needs. 06. Need based training provided for line workers 07. Reliable & valid evaluation system developed for line workers to get the necessary feedback to accomplish the goal successfully. 08. Standardized the performance appraisal formats for line workers. 09. Devised result oriented reward system for line workers. 0. Provided guide lines for promotion and lateral movements of the line workers. 11. Developed a mechanism linked to performance a appraisal for joint dialogue counseling & career planning of the line worker. Goal No. 2 To develop right type of staff functionaries required for Educational processes like students learning, Instructional design, LRDC, LRUC, CD, Institutional planning. Objectives for Goal No. 2 1. Devised a mechanism for identification of curriculum designers, learning resource developers, instructional designers i. . staff functionaries from TES. 2. Identified the staff functionaries. 3. Assessed the training needs of staff functionaries. 4. Provided initial, induction, inservice training by arranging need based training programme for staff functionaries. 5. Developed a valid & reliable evaluation sys5tem to get necessary feedb ack to accomplish the goal successfully. 6. Devised result oriented reward system for staff functionaries. 7. Developed a mechanism for joint dialogue counseling & career planning of staff functionaries. Goal No. 3To develop right type of staff functionaries required for Enabling processes like MIS, HRD, III, OD & Project management. Objectives for Goal No. 3 1. Identified the staff required for project management in each area MIS,HRD, III, OD, Project planning. 2. Assessed the training needs of staff required for project management. 3. Provided need based training to the staff required for project management. 4. Developed a valid & reliable evaluation system to get the necessary feedback to accomplish the goal successfully. 5. Devised result oriented reward system for executives of the project. 6. Project management structure - 6. 3. 1 Roles & functions of each component of management structure (OD,III,MIS,PM,HRD) - Roles & Functions of Line Functionaries - 1) Students Learning - R ole is an self directed learner. Functions Management of the self. Management of others Management of information Management of task. 2) Role of Instructional Designers - Functions To organize T/L experiences so that the students not only gets generic skills but also acquired vocations specific competencies. 3) Role of L. R. D. C. - Role of L. R. D. C. is learning resource development & utilisation.Functions are to design appropriate message suitable to the student & teachers requirement & make it available both in print & non print media. 4) C. Design & Develop - The role is curriculum designers & developers. Functions To design curriculum to enable teachers & students to co-ordinate their T/L experiences by co-ordinating the teachers in activities in Basic sciences, Engg. Sciences & Tech. Subjects for each branch of Engineering. 5) Institutional planning - The role is planning. Institutional activities, curriculum development in various branches of engg.As well as short term pr ogrammes for continuing. education are carried out with best use of physical, information, human & financial resources. 6) State planning - The role is planning at the state level to facilitate co-ordinated actions of institutional planning both administration units & academic institutions & bring team within the state level policy framework. All these are interconnected so that the framework at the state level provides framework for institutional planning which in turn provides framework for curriculum planning etc. Enabling Processes - ) The III is to link education system at the state, institution, department, teachers & student level with the industrial systems so that both work together for providing both economic & social development of the country. 2) The O. D. provides supporting conceptual framework within which the administration & academic institutions can plan & organise systematic transformation of the organisations to be able to fit themselves to the ever changing en vironmental conditions. 3) I. S. Provides conceptual framework to (1) generating, acquisition, torage, retrieval & diffusion of information just in time for the front line workers & supporting staff can organise their liasoning work , R & D, design, develop, implementation & evaluation tasks both for plan & non plan activities. 4) PM The role is to provide & vagary framework for all those who work to design, develop, implementation & evaluation the projects aimed at innovations in the education system. 6. 3. 2 Roles & functions of project structure of specific HRD project - Roles & functions expected to be performed by different units shown in the project structure are given below. )SMG (State Management Group) The chairman is DTE (M. S. ) Mumbai. Functions 1) To co-ordinate the work of project cells in DIIC & MSBTE for the purpose of integrating their project management so that the educational projects are properly complemented by enabling projects. 2) Make recommendations for policy making by DIIC & MSBTE to assist their respective project cells to carry out their work. 2) DIIC Role study roles of DIIC is to frame a policy for implementation of the project & to administer & share resources in the recommendation of state management group.. Functions ) To identify policies for project structure required for planning / implementing HRD project. ii) To issue state level policy guidelines for R&D, design, development, implement & evaluation of state level project. iii) To issue policy guidelines to resources allocation iv) To send policy guidelines to concerned officers . v) To appoint officers by name in various cells vi) To obtain the timed feedback from SMG for HRD to review the progress & solve the problems of the project cells. vii) To take administrative & remedial actions on receiving feedback. 3) MSBTEThe major role is to co-ordinate the activities of educational projects, OD & collaborate with PM of MSBTE. Function I) To communicate the polici es regarding educational projects for the institutes. II) To identify the staff functionaries at design centers. III) To assist in developing the general models for HRD for different levels of hierarchy ( staff functionaries) for educational projects. IV) To obtain regular feedback from SMG for HRD project(Educational Projects) to review the progress & solve the problems of the design centers. 4) PM at DIIC Co-ordination cells of HRD project will work under the project manager at DIIC.The Joint Director will be the project manager. PM will be responsible for designing, implementing & evaluating the projects. 5) HRD Co-ordination Cell CHAIRMAN 1) HRD Co-ordinator Deputy Director in DIIC monument 2) Project Assistant Assistant Director in DIIC 3) Member computer programmer 4) Member Educational Consultant The selected members from design centers will constitute task groups at DIIC. These task group will work with HRD Co-ordination cell to develop general models for all enabling projects for different levels of hierarchy. The supra system will consist of 1) DIIC & MSBTE i. e.Top Management. 2) Project cells of other enabling projects & MSBTE project cells. Major role of HRD co-ordination cell is to co-ordinate the activities of HRD project in reference with enabling & educational projects Liaison, R&D, Design, Policy Development, Implementation & Evaluation of project at state level. Functions 1) To preside meetings of the cell. 2) To manage all the following activities of HRD with the assistance of Task Group a) Designing the general models / mechanisms for HRD for different levels of hierarchy. b) Pilot testing of the instruments developed through Task Groups. c) Validation of the instruments. ) Application of the instruments at Design Centres e) Sending the input formats to the Information service co-ordination cell. f) Sending the output formats to the Information service co-ordination cell. g) ingest the output from Information service cell for d ifferent purpose. h) Disseminate the output to the concerned (higher ups, Task Groups, design centres. ) i) To assess the training needs of line-functionaries / staff functionaries. j) To prepare action plans for HRD. k) To prepare staff development plans. l) To implement the plans through Task Groups. m) To ensure the output from training programs. ) To ensure supply of resources. o) To take remedial actions whenever necessary. p) To collect & communicate the feedback to state management group. q) To generate ideas for effective / cost effective HRD r) To keep / maintain the update record of all relevant activities. s) To guide the cells / design centres with the help of educational consultants. t) To keep the continuous liaison with educational & other enabling projects co-ordination. u) To identify the training needs of line functionaries / staff functionaries pertaining to the education for implementation / evaluation of the HRD project. ) Design Centres The members selected fro m design centres to work as task groups in co-ordination with HRD cell at DIIC will also be working directly with PM at MSBTE. The design centres will apply the models developed by PM for particular discipline through experimentation and will then disseminate the tested knowledge to other polytechnics through six regional polytechnics. 7) Regional management Group Joint Director of the region will be the chairman of this group & will the responsible for observing the effective implementation monitoring and evaluation of tested educational and enabling projects. ) Six Regional Polytechnics These will be responsible for regional co-ordination of implementation , monitoring, evaluation of tested educational & enabling projects received from design centres. 9) Project Cell at Institution Level (identified polytechnic/other poly. ) Project cell will access all developed and tested models from designing centres through regional polytechnics and will integrate those into their existing pro grammes. 7. BUDGET 1. Budget Heads The budget is normally prepared under two heads i. e. non-recurring and recurring expenses for any kind of project. . Non recurring expenses Non recurring expenses are usually considered as one time expenses at the initial stage of the project. These are incurred mostly pertaining to the infrastructural development required for the project including expenses for building, equipment, furniture, vehicle, books, consultancy, fellowship etc. 7. 3 Recurring expenses Recurring expenses are the regular expenses frequently required for the project period. The recurring expenses includes salary of project staff, consumables, O. & M. charges etc. 4.

Arts and the Creative Process

The main variety shows of expression in the arts atomic number 18 painting, music, theater and terpsichore. Art disciplines have been in existence from the beginning of time. worldly concern has an instinctive need to express himself.Thus, this was manifested in wall paintings in Egypt, silk paintings in the Asian communities, Greek sculptures in European cities among other artifacts.DanceThe first dance is salsa. The primary element in this dance is weight change. The dancer shifts his or her weight without affecting the amphetamine body. Only the lower body moves to the music. This is unremarkably a partner dance. It is often performed by a man and a woman.The pace of the dance varies with the drummers beats. It can be very degraded or moderately slow. The movements in this style ar fluid since it was primitively borrowed from several other influences (Cooper, 2001).The second is the Waltz. This dance was conceptualized in the 18th deoxycytidine monophosphate in Eastern Eur ope. It is a ballroom dance, where the dancer glides gracefully crosswise the room with a partner. The basic touchstones atomic number 18 relatively lucky to learn. The partners hold each other close while dancing. There is a leader, the man, who shows the follower, the woman, the next step. The third is tap dance.Here, the performer wears specially made fit out that produce a clear tapping sound when they hit the floor. The tap sounds mustiness vary to create a different resonance with each step (Dolfsma, 2004). The performer must balance his or her weight on the balls of their feet. The feet are used to produce rhythmic sounds.The final dance is the break dance. This was principally a street dance. The style integrates suppleness and style. The breakers upper body must be very sturdy. The head and hands are most utilized in this dance.MusicThe first genre of music is pop. This is the habitual music at any one time. The performers can vary in number. The songs have a melodic chorus that is easy to remember. However, the songs are staged in the traditional structure. The second is Rock and Roll. Guitars are the main instruments play here. The music has gained massive popular appeal over the years (Dolfsma, 2004). It is really motivated by Blues music. There are two types, salving and hard rock.The third type is Gospel music. It is sung to express creed in Christianity. It is a substitute to conventional music in the unsanctified realm. It is expressed in all other genres. The main theme is bounteous praise to God. The final genre is neo-soul. It is a fairly recent form of harmony. This music is very poetic. The themes of the songs are usually socially conscious. This music is a combination of jazz and hip-hop.

A Comparative Analysis of the Hero’s Quest: Harry Potter Vs King Arthur Essay

ABSTRACTFrom the pages of literature m whatsoever popular opinion processs be natural. Often these ideas argon borrowed, passed d take in and transferred from work to work fountain to author. This has led some to purpose that a generic m elderly has been established for original ways of telling-or in some cases retelling-a story, and that authors often write to fit this mold, whether purposefully or non. The principal(prenominal) mold discussed by celebrated novelists such as Joseph Campbell, and used oft clock by renown authors alike J.K. Rowling and T.H. White, is that of the classic triggerman. Rowling has do her young protagonist, kick up monkey around, genuinely akin(predicate) to the super force out of Camelot, as presented by the many Arthurian authors, including T.H. White and Sir Thomas Mallory. in that location be a great clutch of parallels amidst ceramist and Arthur and I watch analyzed the plot and new(prenominal) aspects of twain stories-along with the works of critics and researchers like Campbell-to demonstrate the shocking similari fixs between the deuce poor boyes.The amazing similarities from both(prenominal) stories spawn from the constant recycling of the hero and his quest. stimu juvenile muck around as a person, is a very moral force flake with complete mood changes and varying personalities, in so far when it comes to his adventures he is non at all unique. King Arthur, as a hero, is a very dynamic character exactly as a person he is unconditional and boring. To comp be both I read the complete nettle Potter Series by J.K. Rowling ( evoke Potter and the necromancers St maven, nark Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, encrust Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, elicit Potter and the Goblet of Fire, ravage Potter and the allege of the Phoenix, arouse Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and blight Potter and the Deathly Hallows.), Ive read the authoritative Arthurian falsehoods (The marque in the S tone, by T.H White, and Le Mort dArthur by Sir Thomas Mallory.)The authors own intent stories were also analyzed in hopes that I could perhaps come to a conclusion of why their hoagyes are so alike.HARRY POTTER VS KING ARTHURThe King Arthur novels have a bun in the oven been a destiny of literature for years, influencing authors, movies and til now song writers. This generations King Arthur is cognise by a nonher name. He was c erst durationived on a napkin by a struggling single mom and goes by the name of elicit Potter. Many parts of Rowlings rile Potter Series are infused with elements of the Arthurian legend. From reading and re intrusive both stories I have found many parallels between both tales. Arthur and set upon are both the protagonists of their worlds, both were divest of their parents at an archaeozoic age, both were on quests to secure their destiny, both had old wizard mentors, and neither knew of his own importance till a late age. This extended essay exp lores the themes and characters linking the two tales and also analyzes the authors life sentence and language and how they affected the story.Joseph Campbell is a world renown author who wrote the give The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Mentally digesting this book has availed me to understand the bonds that tie all heroes together and was what led to the thought that devil and Arthur are very similar. some(prenominal) Arthur and molest fit into the category that Joseph Campbell refers to as the classic hero. Both characters lives follow the pattern of up and downs that rules the life of any literary being. Using excerpts and themes from this and other novels written by Campbell I lead bring to light the chilling parallels between both dramas.Both ravage Potter and King Arthur lived lives that were elect by them. This may seem straightforward as their lives were written step to the fore by their authors imagination, simply in the novels themselves their fates were pre-desti ned. kindle Potter was the scarce person ever to run short ennoble Voldemorts Avada Kedavra curse, also know as the killing curse. any(prenominal) time that someone does something for the first timesomething that was thought impossiblethey are immediately raised on a pedestal of awe and leadership.Having survived the curse, lay waste to thwarted Voldemorts plan of world domination, therefore saving the wizarding world. excessively being the first to survive the curse, gravel was also the wizarding communitys savior, and he was just one year old. So at a very early age waste already had a nature to live up to. What put the closing seal on the smirch was Sybill Trelawneys prophecy which stated that neither nookie live go the other survives, subject matter that when Voldemort returned to conquer the world Harry would be the simply one capable of saving everyoneagain. No pressure Harry. His destiny was chosen for him, but thusly again isnt every protagonists destiny ch osen for them in a sense?The magician pigeon hawk, who is life-time life backwards was already aware of who Arthur was going to be when he urged Uther Pendragon to give him his first born(p) child in exchange for his help to lay with the Duke of Cornwalls wife, Lady Igraine. Merlin knew Arthur would grow up to be King and save Britain from the Saxons when he saw the Wart stumbling across the woods floor in T.H. Whites The Sword in the Stone. So the fact that he knew Arthur would have King when he asked Uther for his child agency that Merlin is the person who chose Arthurs fate.Had it not been for his request to receive Arthur, Uther would neer have given him all over and perhaps Arthur would neer have become King. Furthermore, Merlin was the one who placed the sword in the stone and prophesied that whoever pulls it out would become King. Merlin already knew that Arthur was of noble blood, but had he not placed the sword in that stone nobody would have known that Arthur was t he heir to the throne. So not besides did Merlin arrange for King Arthur to actually be born, but he also arranged for the destiny that make his nobility come to life, therefore Merlin steered Arthurs destiny.Arthur and Harry were also raised in complete ignorance of their true lineage. Merlin knew that Arthur would not be safe with the Duke of Cornwall on the prowl for Uthers heir, so he hid him away with a knight named Sir Ector. Knowing that Arthur would be safe Merlin went to live in the woods nearby, and left him solely until his services were compulsory again. Therefore Arthur grew up debateing he was Sir Ectors nephew and had no idea of his noble heritage. He lived comfortably enough and managed to gain the proper morality and code of honor that would one day benefit him as King.Harry was not so lucky. From what we surmise from JKs novels, Harry Potter would have lived quite a comfortable and quiet life had he not been thrown into tragedy when Voldemort attacked. On the night of the attack Harry was however a year old, and his parents and he were quietly enjoying their heretoforeing at Godrics Hollow. Voldemort burst in and massacred James and Lilly Potter, Harrys parents, but when he attempted to kill Harry, the love that Harrys mother had shown in trying to protect her child formed a sort of preventive barrier which caused the curse to bounce back and strike Voldemort. Dumbledore hid the orphaned Harry with his Aunt and Uncle Dursley, who wished to have nothing to do with him due to his being of that lot, meaning a wizard. For eleven years Harry grew up hated and ridiculed with his aunty and uncle, not having a clue of his magical world connections.At this catamenia we notice that while Arthur grew up comfortably with his loving foster family, Harry grew up hated and down trod with his unbearable aunt and uncle. Also, while Arthurs foster brother Kay greatly helped him on quests and adored him as his own brother, Harry was bullied and annoye d by his cousin Dursley.Another striking law of similarity between Arthur and Harry is that they both exist to protect and save the heap they lead. When Harry unwittingly have wordsed Lord Voldemort as a young muck up he saved the wizarding community from the superior threat it had ever faced, at least until Voldemort returned in The Goblet of Fire. So from a surprisingly early age Harry was the savior of his throng. When he attended Hogwarts and became a self-aggrandizing figure in the lives of many people he was not unaccompanied if their leader, but their savior. After Lord Voldemort had returned to power Dumbledore started to guess that he and Harry would be pitted against one another until one was vanquished.This was make certain by was Sybill Trelawneys prophecy The one with the power to vanquish the bad Lord approaches born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the ordinal month dies and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dar k Lord knows not and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the one-seventh month dies So once again Harry was made the only one capable of saving the world from the evils of Marvolo Riddle, or Lord Voldemort. The power which he had that Voldemort knew nothing about was his deceased mothers love, which made it possible for baby Harry and teenage Harry to thwart Voldemort on every attempt he made to conquer the wizarding world. In the final part of J.K Rowlings thrilling series Harry vanquishes Lord Voldemort once and for all, therefore fulfilling his prophecy and saving his people.Arthur also was presented as a hero and savior for his subjects. agree to Geoffrey of Monmouth, historian and author of History of the Kings of Britain, around 1100 Britain was run down by Saxons, Picts, and Scots. Arthur came about due to the subdued and downtrodden imaginations of the Britis h people. Whenever a people are subject to tyranny they earn heroes and saviors. Arthur was the product of poverty, hunger and injustice, so in the Arthurian legends he is the ultimate hero, the total savior and the tranquility bringer of Camelot. Another similarity between both heroes is that Arthur is helped on his way to mastery by the legendary Sword Excalibur, and Harry defeated Lord Voldemort with the attend to of The Elder Wand.As both novels developed the presences of many characters guide the protagonists in the right direction, but none more so than their mentor and protector. For Harry it is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and for Arthur it is the enigmatic Merlin. Harry was hidden for his own safety by Dumbledore and passim the whole series he was nudged in the right direction by him. In the Philosophers Stone, Dumbledore tells Harry how the Mirror of Erised works, in the Chamber of Secrets he sends Fawkes to rescue him from Slytherins Heir and the basilisk, in The Prisoner of Azkaban he gives Hermione the sentence Turnerthere are a cornucopia of examples on how Dumbledore is continuously helping Harry along the way. Although J.K. Rowling claims that Dumbledore had flaws and was gay, he was still one of my positron emission tomography characters due to his complete devotion to the novels cause defeating Lord Voldemort. In this sense Dumbledore is Harrys main parental figure, divagation from his Godfather, Sirius, and he sees him through all the hard times.Merlin is that reason that Arthur exists. So if anything, you could sort of call Merlin Arthurs father. Not only did he arrange for the birth of Britains greatest king, but he made him king by putting the sword in the stone. He maneuver Arthur through his quests and adventures and made him Lord of the Knights of the Round Table. Whenever anyone thinks about Arthurian legend they think of Merlin. Merlin, who found Wart wondering in the woods. Merlin, who taught him valuable life l essons by turning him into different animals. Merlin, who gave him the marvelous sword Excalibur.In both books the mentors are described as having long, white, flowing beards, pointed hats with stars and astrological robes of purple, half run along spectacles and twinkling blue eyes. Is it coincidence that J.K. had all these parallels between Arthur and Harry AND Dumbledore and Merlin?Both Harry and Arthur lead very distinguished, eventful and worldly concern lives. The life of the hero isnt an easy one, but it is quite rewarding. As Campbell puts it A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something large than oneself (Campbell). Both of these heroes have accepted their fate and played the role perfectly.A common thread found in most hero stories is the lay on the line at graven imageity. Campbell writes in his novel, The Hero With A Thousand Faces, that To this very day, the fortuity of physical immortality charms the heart of man (Campbell, 188). All hero figures, from Gilgamesh, to Buddha, to Jesus, even Arthur and Harry are all presented with immortality. This longing for eternal life can be understood when we see what a hero is and how man (and woman in JKs case), fears death. As we know, a hero is spawned during times of excitation and neighborly distress. Arthur was thought up during the Saxons occupation of England and Harry was born when J.K. studyed to be saved from poverty and discontent. Whenever a peoples is oppressed they think of becoming rich, overcoming their difficulties and living forever.In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Harry is presented with the opportunity to keep the Sorcerers Stone, from which he can create the Elixir of Life, enabling him to live forever. In the Deathly Hallows he was searching for the three Deathly Hallows, one of which was the resurrection stone. The Resurrection Stone made it so that Harry could bring back anyone from the dead. Yet because he didnt want the Sorcerers stone or the Resu rrection stone for his own use, he made himself immortal in a different way. He made himself immortal in his followers memories and in his many fans minds. Arthur, also, had the chance at immortality.On his quest for the Holy grail he was presented many times with challenges and dilemmas for which the reward was immortality. When Arthur is killed by his son Mordred, he is then taken to the islet of Avalon to be treated. A popular legend, current among the British people, claimed that King Arthur had never actually died and that he would one day return to his people when their need was great. In this sense King Arthur was thought to be the perfect man, unmixed of sin. Harry is similarly clean of sin as Dumbledore tells him in Half-Blood Prince, In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain smooth of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven.Finally, the greatest parallel between both heroes is the quest. The myths and legends surrounding King Arthur center on the quest for the Holy grail. According to legend, King Arthur saw the Grail in a vision, and subsequently he and his knights attempted to detect the Grail. The Holy Grail and the vessel used by Christ at the Last Supper that was then used by St. Joseph to catch the blood of Christ were then thought to be the same cup. While the location of the Grail was forgotten over time, there was a prophecy at the Court of King Arthur that the Grail would one day be rediscovered by a descendant of St. Joseph. According to the prophecy, the person who would find the Grail would be the person designated to sit in the Siege Perilous, the perfect station at the round table. This would be Sir Galahad. In comparison Harry Potter is also on a quest. In fact seven quests, one for distributively book written. Each one of the Harry Potter books written involves quests.In Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, Voldemort is on a quest to find the Philosophers Stone to achieve im mortality. Voldemorts quest becomes Harrys quest, as Harry believes himself to be the only one capable of stopping Voldemort from obtaining the Stone once he learns that Dumbledore has left Hogwarts. The quest takes Harry through a series of obstacles, and while he is accompanied at first by Ron and Hermione, it is he alone like Galahad who must complete the quest and save the Stone from Voldemort. Philosophers Stone actually tells us about two quests the quest for the Stone, as well as Voldemorts quest to kill the boy who has been prophesized to be the only one who can be his undoing. As Galahads seat is tag with his name, signifying that he is the only one who can find the Grail, Voldemorts attack on Harry as a baby leaves him marked with the scar that signifies Harry as Voldemorts equal and as the only one who can vanquish Voldemort.Also, Harry is the only one who can achieve the quest for the stone, like Galahad is the only one who can find the Holy Grail. As in Arthurian le gend, Harry is not the only one who embarks on quests through the Harry Potter series. In Philosophers Stone, Voldemort uses Quirrell to try to find the Stone. The entire Hogwarts teaching staff (with the one leading light exception of Professor Lockhart) is looking for the Chamber of Secrets in Book Two. The Dementors are searching for Sirius Black in Prisoner of Azkaban.The other contestants in the Triwizard Tournament, like Knights of the Round Table, are also on quests as they complete each Tournament task in Goblet of Fire. At the Yule Ball, the contestants and the judges even sit at a large round table. In Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort is on a quest to obtain the prophecy and regain his power. This signifies that many try, or feel compelled to achieve the status of hero, but the true hero doesnt choose his destiny. The true hero becomes what he is because he has no choice, because it is in his blood. Like Harry and Arthur, who did not choose their future, and never cute fam e and glory, the true hero does things alone.There exists many parallels between both heroes and in finality we can conclude that this is no mere coincidence. Rowling must have intended to at least base her protagonist off of Britains greatest hero King Arthur.The reason that J. K. Rowling is able to put so much life and actuality in her writings is that she herself has experienced much of what she writes. She was born on July 31st, 1965 in Gloucestershire, England. Divorced and living off of welfare Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone on a napkin between her daughters naps. When Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone was create her life changed. Much like Harrys life, Rowlings has the characteristics of a fairy tale. Barely making a living she managed to get by and lived in a small apartment flat in Edinburgh, where she says she was save by Harry Potter. She was given money to finish her books and has since become richer than even the Queen. She has written the harshness and nightmares of her pre-Potter life into her books, which is why they appear so real.Whenever a people live an oppressed lifestyle they create saviors to rescue them, which is what J.K did. T.H White, on the other hand lived a pretty well off life, yet displeased with the world he too re-made a hero for himself, Arthur. There isnt much in common between both authors other than their British descent and the fact that they write. Their language is also very similar and the way they write is strikingly alike. Perhaps its the fact that they both attended Exeter college? In the quest for literary glory, both authors overcame tremendous upheaval and problems of a bad economic start. Yet they both wrote novels that changed mankind, and that continued the Heros journey through literature. It is certain true then, that There is only one hero, and he has a thousand faces (HWTF, Campbell).BIBLIOGRAPHYWhite, T.H. The Sword in the Stone. ergodic House, Inc. October 1963Rowling, J.K . Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. Cornell Books Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Cornell Books, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. New World Library Books, 1949, starting Ed.

Black House Chapter Twenty-three

23ONE MORE says the com frameerized tomography from ESPN.It sounds to a grruster extent corresponding an modu slow than a request, and although atomic number 1 baset catch up with the fellow, he slams this particular homeboy neer compete a sport in his life, pro or new(prenominal) chic. He has the lardy, slimly oily aroma of nigh atomic number 53 who has been e trulyw presentweight or so from the jump. Sports is perhaps his compensation, with the military force to fifty-fifty so memories of clothes bought in the Husky section at Sears and e rattling(prenominal) t doddering those childhood rhymes resembling Fatty- digit come onty, twain-by-four, had to do it on the floor, couldnt captivate by with(predicate) the lav entre.His name is Pennimilitary personnel. Just analogous modestr Ric herculean he t grey-headed total h flow when they shake bushel h h unrivalledst-to- exhaustivelyness ofs at the radio station. Famous rock n roller from coering in th e fif hooks? peradventure you remember him.Vaguely, total heat said, as if he hadnt at mavin cable cartridge clip owned e in truth(prenominal) single Little Richard had ever model out. I believe he was iodine of the founding Fathers. Penniman laughed uproariously, and in that laugh heat content glimpsed a possible future for himself. except was it a future he gulled? People laughed at Howard base, too, and Howard Stern was a dork. star to a greater extent beverage Penniman repeats forthwithadays. They be in the lug of the Oak Tree Inn, where Penniman has tipped the shuttender five bucks to switch the TV from coiling on ABC to ESPN, redden though in that respects zipper on at this hour of the day except golf tips and bass fishing. One to a greater extent(prenominal) drink, equit equal to(p) to seal the extend merely they dont reconcile a personal manner a deal, and atomic number 1 isnt accredited he lacks to settle one. Going national with George Rath bun as part of the ESPN radio package should be attractive, and he doesnt go through either serious problem with changing the name of the show from Badger onset to ESPN Sports Barrage it would still focus primarily on the central and Union areas of the coun decide estimable . . . barely what?Before he support fifty-fiftying choke to hang on short on the question, he smacks it again My underworld, the redolence his married woman employ to wear on plastered evenings, when she precious to send a trusted signal. Lark was what he used to shriek her on those certain evenings, when the room was sober and they were both(prenominal) trick to wholething further scents and textures and each round other.Lark.You know, I intend Im leaving to pass on that drink, enthalpy says. Got some work to do at home. But Im going to think over your gloweringer. And I mean seriously.Ah-ah-ah, Penniman says, and heat content cigaret tell from certain minute disturbances in t he line of descent that the man is shaking a finger beneath his nose. heat content wonders how Penniman would react if total heat curtly darted his header forward and puss by the offending digit at the second knuckle. If henry showed him a weeny Coulee Country hospitality pekan-style. How loud would Penniman yell? As loud as Little Richard forwards the instrumental break of Tutti Frutti, perhaps? Or non quite an a as loud as that? sewert go till Im desexualize to pullu easy you, Mr. Im Fat But It nary(prenominal)Longer Matters tells him. Im your ride, yknow. Hes on his quaternate gim permit, and his words are s inflamely slurred. My friend, Henry thinks, Id poke a forbidding- picked ferret up my ass before Id get into a car with you at the wheel.Actu tot everyyy, I disregard, Henry says pleasantly. pass Avery, the bartender, is having a kick-ass practised afternoon the fat guy cable slipped him five to change the TV channel, and the blind guy slipped him fiv e to previse Skeeters Taxi while the fat guy was in the bathroom, devising a fightingty room.Huh?I said, ?Actually, I undetermined fire. Bartender?Hes out stead, sir, Avery tells him. Pulled up two transactions ago. on that point is a hefty creak as Penniman turns on his bar stool. Henry terminatet see the mans frown as he takes in the ward-heeler now idling in the hotel turnaround, further he provoke intellect it.Listen, Henry, Penniman says. I think you may lack a certain intellect of your current situation. on that point are stars in the firmament of sports radio, darned up a secure in that location are people care the Fabulous Sports Babe and Tony Kornheiser excite sextet figures a social class still in verbalize fees, six figures easy rescue you aint in that location heretofore. That admission is currently closed to you. But I, my friend, am one crazy homeuva ingressman. The up cinch is that if I say we ought to have one more drink, indeed Bart ender, Henry says quietly, wherefore shakes his head. I stooget just call you bartender it might work for Humphrey Bogart scarcely it doesnt work for me. Whats your name?Nick Avery, sir. The last word deposit ins out auto two-dimensionalically, merely Avery never would have used it when speaking to the other one, never in a million years. twain guys tipped him five, exactly the one in the dark deoxyephedrinees is the gent. Its got nonhing to do with him being blind, its just something he is.Nick, who else is at the bar?Avery looks around. In one of the bandaging booths, two men are drinking beer. In the hall, a bellman is on the skirt. At the bar itself, no one at all except for these two guys one slim, still, and blind, the other fat, sweaty, and set downward(a)ning to be pissed off.No one, sir.Theres non a . . . lady? Lark, hes closely said. Theres non a lark?No.Listen here, Penniman says, and Henry thinks hes never heard anyone so un alike Little Richard Pen niman in his entire life. This guy is whiter than Moby Dick . . . and plausibly astir(predicate) the same size. Weve got a lot more to discuss here. Loh more tdishcush is how it comes out. Unless, that is Unlesh youre trying to let me know youre non interested. never in a million years, Pennimans vocalism says to Henry Leydens educated ears. Were lecture about putting a money machine in your livelihood room, sweetheart, your very own private ATM, and there aint no way in hell youre going to turn that down.Nick, you dont musical note meat? Something very s outhouset(p) and old-fashioned? My Sin, perhaps?A flabby softwood declivitys on Henrys shoulder like a hot-water bottle. The sin, old buddy, would be for you to refuse to have some other drink with me. Even a blindman could see th indicate you get your kick the bucket off him, Avery says, and perhaps Pennimans ears arent entirely deaf to nuance, because the hand leaves Henrys shoulder at erstwhile.Then another ha nd comes in its couch, higher(prenominal) up. It inter-group communicationes the game of Henrys neck in a cold caress thats there and and so deceased. Henry draws in breath. The smell of perfume comes with it. Usually scents draw after a period of expo authoritative, as the receptors that caught them temporarily murdereden. not this age, though. Not this smell.No perfume? Henry almost pleads. The touch of her hand on his neck he can dismiss as a tactual hallucination. But his nose never betrays him.Never until now, anyway.Im sorry, Avery says. I can smell beer . . . peanuts . . . this mans gin and his aftershave . . .Henry nods. The lights above the coveringbar slide crosswise the dark lenses of his sunglasses as he slips gracefully off his stool.I think you pauperization another drink, my friend, Penniman says in what he no doubt believes to be a tone of polite menace. One more drink, just to celebrate, and therefore Ill take you home in my Lexus.Henry smells his wifes perfume. Hes convinced(predicate) of it. And he seemed to timber the touch of his wifes hand on the back of his neck. Yet suddenly its skinny small Morris Rosen he meets himself thinking about Morris, who privationed him to get word to Where Did Our Love Go as done by Dirtysperm. And of feast for Henry to play it in his Wisconsin Rat persona. Morris Rosen, who has more integrity in one of his nail-chewed trivial fingers than this quat has got in his entire tree trunk.He puts a hand on Pennimans forearm. He smilings into Pennimans unseen lawsuit, and faces the muscles beneath his palm relax. Penniman has decided hes going to get his way. Again.You take my drink, Henry says pleasantly, add it to your drink, and thence get at them both up your fat and bepimpled ass. If you gather up something to cargo hold them in place, why, you can stick your job up there right after them.Henry turns and walks briskly toward the threshold, orienting himself with his inveterate ne at precision and retention one hand out in campaign of him as an insurance policy. Nick Avery has broken into spontaneous applause, unless Henry barely hears this and Penniman he has already dismissed from his promontory. What occupies him is the smell of My Sin perfume. It fades a detailed as he step out into the afternoon heat . . . precisely is that not an amorous sigh he hears beside his go away(p) ear? The sort of sigh his wife sometimes made just before go unaware after love? His Rhoda? His Lark? hello, the plug he calls from the curb beneath the awning.Right here, buddy whatre you, blind?As a bat, Henry agrees, and walks toward the sound of the constituent. Hell go home, hell put his feet up, hell have a glass of tea, and then hell listen to the damned 911 tape. That as yet unstaged chore may be whats causing his current case of the jitters and shaky-shivers, knowing that he must(prenominal) sit in darkness and listen to the voice of a child-killing cannibal. Surely that must be it, because theres no modestness to be afraid of his Lark, is there? If she were to return to return and haunt him she would sure enough haunt with love.Wouldnt she?Yes, he thinks, and lowers himself into the taxis stifling back arse.Where to, buddy?Norway Valley Road, Henry says. Its a white class with blue trim, standing back from the road. Youll see it not long after you cross the creek.Henry settles back in the seat and turns his troubled face toward the dissipate window. French Landing feels unidentified to him like a shot . . . fraught. homogeneous something that has slipped and slipped until it is now on the verge of simply falling off the table and smashing to pieces on the floor. state that she has come back. Say that she has. If its love shes come with, why does the smell of her perfume spring me so uneasy? So almost revolted? And why was her touch (her imagined touch, he assures himself) so unpleasant?Why was her touch so cold? by and by th e dazzle of the day, the living room of Beezers crib is so dark that at initiatory doodly-squat cant make out anything. Then, when his look adjust a lowly, he sees why bindings a double thickness, from the look have been hung over both of the living-room windows, and the door to the other downstairs room, almost certainly the kitchen, has been closed.He cant stand the light, Beezer says. He limits his voice low so it wont carry across to the far side of the room, where the roll of a man lies on a couch. Another man is kneeling beside him.mayhap the hang back that bit him was rabid, gob says. He doesnt believe it.Beezer shakes his head decisively. It isnt a phobic reaction. physician says its physiological. Where light falls on him, his skin starts to melt. You ever hear of anything like that?No. And horse establish has never smelled anything like the stench in this room, either. Theres the buzz of not one but two table fans, and he can feel the cross-draft, but that st ink is too gluey to move. Theres the reek of spoiled heart and soul of gangrene in torn flesh but scalawag has smelled that before. Its the other smell thats acquire to him, something like blood and funeral flowers and feces all assorted up in concert. He makes a gagging noise, cant help it, and Beezer looks at him with a certain impatient sympathy.Bad, yeah, I know. But its like the monkey house at the zoo, man you get used to it after a while.The swing door to the other room opens, and a trim little woman with shoulder-length light-haired hair comes through. Shes carrying a bowl. When the light strikes the figure falsehood on the couch, creep screams. Its a horribly thick sound, as if the mans lungs have begun to liquefy. Something possibly smoke, maybe steam starts to rise up from the skin of his forehead. withhold on, sneak, the kneeling man says. Its doc. Before the kitchen door swings all the way shut again, damn is able to read whats pasted to his battered ingl orious bag. Somewhere in the States there may be another medical man sporty a STEPPENWOLF RULES bumper sticker on the side of his physicians bag, but probably not in Wisconsin.The woman kneels beside doc, who takes a cloth from the basin, wrings it out, and places it on reverses forehead. shiner obligates a shaky groan and begins to shiver all over. Water runs down his cheeks and into his whiskers. The byssus seems to be flood tide out in mangy patches. goofball steps forward, copulation himself he will get used to the smell, sure he will. Maybe its even true. In the meantime he wishes for a little of the Vicks VapoRub most LAPD homicide detectives carry in their glove compartments as a weigh of caterpillar tread. A dab under each nostril would be very welcome right now.Theres a sound system (scruffy) and a bridge of speakers in the corners of the room (huge), but no television. Stacked wooden crates change with books line every wall without a door or a window in it, fas hioning the space seem even smaller than it is, almost cryptlike. jack has a touch of claustrophobia in his makeup, and now this spell warms up, increasing his discomfort. or soly of the books seem to deal with religion and philosophy he sees Descartes, C. S. Lewis, the Bhagavad-Gita, Steven Averys Tenets of Existence but theres also a lot of fiction, books on beer making, and (on top side of one giant speaker) Albert Goldmans trash tome about Elvis Presley. On the other speaker is a photograph of a young girl with a splendid smile, freckles, and oceans of reddish-blond hair. Seeing the child who drew the hopscotch grid out front makes old salt Sawyer feel sick with anger and sorrow. Otherworldly beings and causes there may be, but theres also a sick old whap prowling around who expects to be stopped. Hed do come up to remember that. carry on female child makes a space for rapscallion in front of the couch, locomote gracefully even though shes on her knees and still h olding the bowl. knucklebones sees that in it are two more wet cloths and a mickle of melting ice cubes. The bus of them makes him thirstier than ever. He takes one and pops it into his mouth. Then he turns his attention to pilfer.A plaid blanket has been pulled up to his neck. His forehead and upper berth cheeks the places not covered by his decaying beard are pasty. His eye are closed. His lips are drawn back to show teeth of startle whiteness.Is he seafarer begins, and then slips eyeball open. Whatever jacks meant to ask leaves his head entirely. Around the hazel irises, pilfers eyes have gone an uneasy, shifting scarlet. Its as if the man is face into a terrible radioactive sunset. From the inner corners of his eyes, some sort of black scum is seeping.The Book of Philosophical Transformation addresses most current dialectics, snarf says, speaking mellowly and lucidly, and Machiavelli also speaks to these questions. Jack can almost picture him in a lecture hall. Until his teeth begin to chatter, that is. pinch, its Jack Sawyer. No recognition in those weird red-and-hazel eyes. The black slime at the corners of them seems to twitch, however, as if it is somehow sentient. Listening to him.Its Hollywood, Beezer murmurs. The cop. Remember?One of abstracts work force lies on the plaid blanket. Jack takes it, and stifles a cry of surprise when it closes over his with amazing strength. Its hot, too. As hot as a biscuit just out of the oven. snarf lets out a long, gasping sigh, and the stench is fetid acceptless meat, decayed flowers. Hes rotting, Jack thinks. Rotting from the inside out. Oh christ, help me through this.Christ may not, but the stock of Sophie might. Jack tries to fix her eyes in his memory, that lovely, level, clear blue gaze.Listen, pinch says.Im listening. lift seems to gather himself. Beneath the blanket, his body shivers in a loose, uncoordinated way that Jack guesses is contiguous door to a seizure. Somewhere a c ju g is ticking. Somewhere a bounder is barking. A boat hoots on the Mississippi. Other than these sounds, all is close up. Jack can remember solitary(prenominal) one other such suspension of the worlds product line in his entire life, and that was when he was in a Beverly Hills hospital, liveing for his amaze to finish the long business of death. Somewhere Ty Marshall is waiting to be rescued. Hoping to be rescued, at to the lowest degree. Somewhere there are Breakers hard at work, trying to destroy the axle upon which all existence spins. Here is moreover this eternal room with its feeble fans and noxious vapors. slips eyes close, then open again. They fix upon the newcomer, and Jack is suddenly sure some great right is going to be confided. The ice cube is gone from his mouth Jack sound offs he crunched it up and swallowed it without even realizing, but he doesnt dare take another.Go on, buddy, commercialism says. You get it out and then Ill load you up with another hypo of dope. The good gorge. Maybe youll sleep.Mouse pays no heed. His mutating eyes hold Jacks. His hand holds Jacks, tightening still more. Jack can almost feel the bones of his fingers grinding together.Dont . . . go out and buy top-of-the-line equipment, Mouse says, and sighs out another excruciatingly foul breath from his rotting lungs.Dont . . . ?Most people give up brewing after . . . a year or two. Even dedicated . . . dedicated hobbyists. Making beer is not . . . is not for pussies.Jack looks around at Beezer, who looks back impassively. Hes in and out. Be patient. carry on him.Mouses grip tightens yet more, then loosens just as Jack is deciding he can take it no longer. bring about a tumid pot, Mouse advises him. His eyes bulge. The reddish shadows come and go, come and go, travel rapidly across the curved landscape of his corneas, and Jack thinks, Thats its shadow. The shadow of the Crimson King. Mouse has already got one foot in its court. Five gallons . . . at least. Y ou find the best ones are in . . . seafood supply stores. And for a fermentation vas . . . plastic water-cooler jugs are good . . . theyre lighter than glass, and . . . Im burning up. Christ, Beez, Im burning upFuck this, Im going to shoot it to him, atomic number 101 says, and snaps open his bag.Beezer grabs his arm. Not yet. crashing(a) tears begin to slip out of Mouses eyes. The black goo seems to be forming into tiny tendrils. These reach greedily downward, as if trying to catch the wet and drink it.Fermentation lock and stopper, Mouse whispers. Thomas Merton is shit, never let anyone tell you different. No real thought there. You have to let the gases outpouring while keeping dust out. Jerry Garcia wasnt God. Kurt Cobain wasnt God. The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife. Hes caught the eye of the King. Gorg-ten-abbalah, ee-lee-lee. The opopanax is dead, long live the opopanax.Jack leans more deeply into Mouses smell. Whos olfactory perception perfume? Whos caugh t the eye of the King?The mad King, the unfavourable King, the sad King. Ring-a-ding-ding, all hail the King.Mouse, whos caught the eye of the King?Doc says, I thought you wanted to know about Who? Jack has no idea why this seems distinguished to him, but it does. Is it something person has said to him recently? Was it Dale? Tansy? Was it, God spell us, Wendell Green?Racking cane and hose, Mouse says confidentially. Thats what you need when the fermentations done And you cant put beer in screw-top bottles You Mouse turns his head away from Jack, nestles it cozily in the prod of his shoulder, opens his mouth, and cats. seize miss screams. The vomit is pus-yellow and speckled with moving black bits like the crud in the corners of Mouses eyes. It is alive.Beezer leaves the room in a hurry, not quite running, and Jack shades Mouse from the brief glow of kitchen sunlight as best he can. The hand clamped on Jacks loosens a little more.Jack turns to Doc. Do you think hes going?D oc shakes his head. Passed out again. Poor old Mousie aint getting off that easy. He gives Jack a grim, haunted look. This better(p) be worth it, Mr. Policeman. Cause if it aint, Im gonna replumb your sink.Beezer comes back with a huge atomic reactor of rags, and hes put on a pair of green kitchen gloves. Not speaking, he mops up the pool of vomit among Mouses shoulder and the backrest of the couch. The black specks have ceased moving, and thats good. To have not seen them moving in the first place would have been even better. The vomit, Jack notices with dismay, has eaten into the couchs worn fabric like acid.Im going to pull the blanket down for a second or two, Doc says, and Bear Girl gets up at once, still holding the bowl with the melting ice. She goes to one of the bookshelves and stands there with her back turned, trembling.Doc, is this something I really need to see?I think maybe it is. I dont think you know what youre dealing with, even now. Doc takes hold of the blanket and eases it out from beneath Mouses limp hand. Jack sees that more of the black stuff has begun to ooze from beneath the dying mans fingernails. Remember that this happened lonesome(prenominal) a couple of hours ago, Mr. Policeman.He pulls the blanket down. Standing with her back to them, Susan Bear Girl Osgood faces the great works of Hesperian philosophy and begins to cry silently. Jack tries to hold back his scream and cannot.Henry pays off the taxi, goes into his house, takes a deep and soothing breath of the air-conditioned cool. There is a faint aroma sweet and he tells himself its just newly-cut flowers, one of Mrs. Mortons specialties. He knows better, but wants no more to do with ghosts just now. He is actually feeling better, and he supposes he knows why it was telling the ESPN guy to take his job and shove it. Nothing more bright to make a fellows day, especially when the fellow in question is gainfully employed, possessed of two credit cards that are nowhere near the max-out point, and has a pitcher of cold iced tea in the fridge.Henry heads kitchenward now, making his way down the hall with one hand held out before him, testing the air for obstacles and displacements. Theres no sound but the whisper of the air conditioner, the hum of the fridge, the clack of his heels on the hardwood . . .. . . and a sigh.An amorous sigh.Henry stands where he is for a significance, then turns cautiously. Is the sweet aroma a little stronger now, especially facing back in this direction, toward the living room and the front door? He thinks yes. And its not flowers no sense fooling himself about that. As always, the nose knows. Thats the aroma of My Sin.Rhoda? he says, and then, lower Lark?No answer. Of course not. Hes just having the heebie-jeebies, thats all those world-famous shaky-shivers, and why not?Because Im the sheik, baby, Henry says. The Sheik, the Shake, the Shook.No smells. No sexy sighs. And yet hes haunted by the idea of his wife back in the living room, standing there in perfumed cerements of the grave, ceremonial occasion him silently as he came in and passed blindly before her. His Lark, come back from Noggin Mound Cemetery for a little visit. Maybe to listen to the latest Slobberbone CD.Quit it, he says softly. Quit it, you dope.He goes into his big, well-organized kitchen. On his way through the door he slaps a button on the panel there without even thinking about it. Mrs. Mortons voice comes from the viewgraph speaker, which is so high-tech she might almost be in the room.Jack Sawyer was by, and he dropped off another tape he wants you to listen to. He said it was . . . you know, that man. That bad man.Bad man, right, Henry murmurs, opening the refrigerator and enjoying the blast of cold air. His hand goes unerringly to one of three cans of Kingsland laager stored inside the door. Never mind the iced tea.Both of the tapes are in your studio, by the soundboard. Also, Jack wanted you to call him on his stall phon e. Mrs. Mortons voice takes on a faintly lecturing tone. If you do speak to him, I hope you tell him to be careful. And be careful yourself. A pause. Also, dont forget to eat supper. Its all ready to go. Second shelf of the fridge, on your left.Nag, nag, nag, Henry says, but hes smiling as he opens his beer. He goes to the telephone and dials Jacks number.On the seat of the Dodge Ram parked in front of 1 Nailhouse Row, Jacks cell phone comes to life. This time theres no one in the cab to be annoyed by its tiny but penetrating tweet.The cellular customer you are trying to reach is currently not answering. Please try your call again later.Henry hangs up, goes back to the doorway, and pushes another button on the panel there. The voices that deliver the time and temperature are all versions of his own, but hes programmed a random shuffle pattern into the gadget, so he never knows which one hes going to get. This time its the Wisconsin Rat, screaming crazily into the sunny air-conditio ned silence of his house, which has never felt so far from town as it does todayTimes four twenty dollar bill-two P.M. Outside temperatures eighty-two Inside temperatures seventy What the hell do you care? What the hell does anyone care? Chew it up, eat it up, lap it down, it aaall comes out the same place. Right. Henry thumbs the button again, silencing the Rats trademark cry. How did it get late so fast? God, wasnt it just noon? For that way out, wasnt he just young, twenty years old and so full of spunk it was practically coming out of his ears? What That sigh comes again, derailing his mostly self-mocking train of thought. A sigh? sincerely? More likely just the air conditioners compressor, cutting off. He can tell himself that, anyway.He can tell himself that if he wants to.Is anyone here? Henry asks. There is a tremble in his voice that he hates, an old mans palsied quaver. Is anyone in the house with me?For a terrible second he is almost afraid something will answer. Not hing does of course null does and he swallows half the can of beer in three long gulps. He decides hell go back into the living room and read for a little while. Maybe Jack will call. Maybe hell get himself a little more under control once he has a little fresh alcohol in his system.And maybe the world will end in the next five minutes, he thinks. That way youll never have to deal with the voice on those damned tapes waiting in the studio. Those damned tapes lying there on the soundboard like unexploded bombs.Henry walks tardily back down the hall to the living room with one hand held out before him, telling himself hes not afraid, not a bit afraid of touching his wifes dead face.Jack Sawyer has seen a lot, hes travelled to places where you cant rent from Avis and the water tastes like wine, but hes never encountered anything like Mouse Baumanns leg. Or, rather, the pestilential, apocalyptic horror show that was Mouse Baumanns leg. Jacks first impulse once hes got himself back u nder something like control is to upbraid Doc for taking off Mouses pants. Jack keeps thinking of sausages, and how the casing forces them to keep their shape even after the fry pans sizzling on a red-hot burner. This is an undoubtedly stupid comparison, primo stupido, but the human mind under compress puts on some middling odd jinks and jumps.Theres still the shape of a leg there sort of but the flesh has dispersed away from the bone. The skin is almost completely gone, melted to a runny substance that looks like a mixture of milk and bacon fat. The interwoven mat of muscle beneath what remains of the skin is sagging and undergoing the same cataclysmic metamorphosis. The infected leg is in a kind of undisciplined motility as the solid becomes liquid and the liquid sizzles relentlessly into the couch upon which Mouse is lying. Along with the almost insupportable stench of decay, Jack can smell scorching cloth and melting fabric.Poking out of this spreading, vaguely legged mess is a foot that looks remarkably undamaged. If I wanted to, I could pull it right off . . . just like a twitch off a vine. The thought gets to him in a way the sight of the grievously wounded leg hasnt quite been able to, and for a min Jack can only bow his head, gagging and trying not to vomit down the front of his shirt.What perhaps saves him is a hand on his back. Its Beezer, pass what comfort he can. The rowdy color has completely left the Beezs face. He looks like a motorcyclist come back from the grave in an urban myth.You see? Doc is asking, and his voice seems to come from a great distance. This aint the lily-livered pox, my friend, although it looked a little like that while it was still getting cranked up. Hes already exhibiting red spots on his left leg . . . his belly . . . his balls. Thats pretty much what the skin around the pang looked like when we first got him back here, just some redness and swelling. I thought, ?Shit, aint nothin to this, I got enough Zi thromax to put this on the run before sundown. Well, you see what good the Zithro did. You see what good anything did. Its eating through the couch, and Im guessing that when it finishes with the couch, itll go right to work on the floor. This shit is hungry. So was it worth it, Hollywood? I guess only you and Mouse know the answer to that.He still knows where the house is, Beezer says. Me, I dont have a clue, even though we just came from there. You, either. Do you?Doc shakes his head.But Mouse, he knows.Susie, honey, Doc says to Bear Girl. Bring another blanket, would you? This ones damn near et through.Bear Girl goes willingly enough. Jack gets to his feet. His legs are rubbery, but they hold him. Shield him, he tells Doc. Im going out to the kitchen. If I dont get a drink, Im going to die.Jack takes on water directly from the sink, swallowing until a spike plants itself in the center of his forehead and he belches like a horse. Then he just stands there, aspect out into Beezer and Bear Girls backyard. A neat little swing set has been planted there in the weedy desolation. It hurts Jack to look at it, but he looks anyway. afterwards the lunacy of Mouses leg, it seems important to remind himself that hes here for a reason. If the reminder hurts, so much the better.The sun, now tour gold as it eases itself down toward the Missis-sippi, glares in his eyes. Time hasnt been standing still after all, it seems. Not outside this little house, anyway. Outside 1 Nailhouse Row, time actually seems to have sped up. Hes haunted by the idea that coming here was as pointless as detouring to Henrys house tormented by the thought that Mr. Munshun and his boss, the abbalah, are running him around like a windup toy with a key in its back while they do their work. He can follow that buzz in his head to glum House, so why the hell doesnt he just get back in his truck and do it?The perfume he smells is not that of his dead wife.What does that mean? Why does the idea of someo ne sense of smell perfume make him so crazy and afraid?Beezer knocks on the kitchen door, making him jump. Jacks eye fixes on a sampler hung over the kitchen table. Instead of matinee idol BLESS OUR HOME, it reads HEAVY METAL THUNDER. With a carefully stitched HARLEY-DAVIDSON beneath.Get back in here, man, the Beez says. Hes awake again.Henrys on a path in the woods or maybe its a course and something is can him. to each one time he turns to see in this dream he can see, but visual perception is no blessing theres a little more of that something back there. It appears to be a man in evening dress, but the man is frightfully elongated, with spike teeth that jut over a smiling red lower lip. And he seems is it possible? to have only one eye.The first time Henry looks back, the shape is only a milky blur amid the trees. The next time he can make out the uneasy dark swim of its coat and a natation red blotch that might be a tie or an ascot. Up ahead of him is this things den, a stinking hole that only coincidently looks like a house. Its presence buzzes in Henrys head. Instead of pine, the woods printing press in on either side smell of heavy, cloying perfume My Sin.Its impetuous me, he thinks with dismay. Whatever that thing back there is, its driving me like a steer toward the slaughterhouse.He thinks of cutting off the lane to his left or right, of using the miracle of his new sight to escape through the woods. Only there are things there, too. Dark, floating shapes like sooty scarves. He can almost see the closest. Its some sort of gigantic dog with a long tongue as red as the apparitions tie and bulging eyes.Cant let it drive me to the house, he thinks. I have to get out of this before it can get me there . . . but how? How?It comes to him with startling simplicity. All he has to do is wake up. Because this is a dream. This is just a Its a dream Henry cries out, and jerks forward. Hes not walking, hes sitting, sitting in his very own easy chair, and pretty soon hes going to have a very wet crotch because he fell asleep with a can of Kingsland Lager balanced there, and But theres no spill, because theres no can of beer. He feels cautiously to his right and yep, there it is, on the table with his book, a braille edition of Reflections in a Golden Eye. He must have put it there before first falling asleep and then falling into that horrible nightmare.Except Henrys pretty sure he didnt do any such thing. He was holding the book and the beer was between his legs, freeing his hands to touch the little upraised dots that tell the story. Something very considerately took both the book and the can after he dropped off, and put them on the table. Something that smells of My Sin perfume.The air reeks of it.Henry takes a long, slow breath with his nostrils flared and mouth tightly sealed shut.No, he says, speaking very clearly. I can smell flowers . . . and rug shampoo . . . and fried onions from last night. truly faint but still the re. The nose knows.All true enough. But the smell had been there. Its gone now because shes gone, but she will be back. And suddenly he wants her to come. If hes frightened, surely its the unknown hes frightened of, right? Only that and nothing more. He doesnt want to be alone here, with nothing for company but the memory of that rancid dream.And the tapes.He has to listen to the tapes. He promised Jack.Henry gets shakily to his feet and makes his way to the living-room control panel. This time hes greeted by the voice of Henry Shake, a mellow fellow if ever there was one.Hey there, all you hoppin cats and boppin kitties, at the tone its seven-fourteen P.M., Bulova Watch Time. Outside the temp is a very cool seventy-five degrees, and here in the Make-Believe Ballroom its a very nifty seventy degrees. So why not get off your money, grab your honey, and make a little magic?Seven-fourteen When was the last time he fell asleep for almost three hours in the sidereal day? For that matter , when was the last time he had a dream in which he could see? The answer to that second question, so far as he can remember, is never.Where was that lane?What was the thing behind him?What was the place ahead of him, for that matter? Doesnt matter, Henry tells the empty room if it is empty. It was a dream, thats all. The tapes, on the other hand . . .He doesnt want to listen to them, has never wanted to listen to anything any less in his life (with the possible exception of Chicago tattle Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?), but he has to. If it might save Ty Marshalls life, or the life of even one other child, he must.Slowly, dreading every step, Henry Leyden makes his blind way to his studio, where two cassettes wait for him on the soundboard.In heaven there is no beer, Mouse sings in a toneless, droning voice.His cheeks are now covered with ugly red patches, and his nose seems to be sinking sideways into his face, like an atoll after an undersea earthquake.Thats why we drink it here. And when . . . were gone . . . from here . . . our friends will be drinking all the beer.Its been like this for hours now philosophical nuggets, instructions for the beginning beer-making enthusiast, snatches of song. The light coming through the blankets over the windows has dimmed appreciably.Mouse pauses, his eyes closed. Then he starts another ditty.Hundred bottles of beer on the wall, one hundred bottles of beer . . . if one of those bottles should happen to fall . . .I have to go, Jack says. Hes hung in there as well as he can, convinced that Mouse is going to give him something, but he can wait no longer. Somewhere, Ty Marshall is waiting for him.Hold on, Doc says. He rummages in his bag and comes out with a hypodermic syringe needle. He raises it in the dimness and taps the glass barrel with a fingernail.Whats that?Doc gives Jack and Beezer a brief, grim smile. Speed, he says, and injects it into Mouses arm.For a bit theres nothing. Then, as Jack is opening his mouth again to tell them he has to go, Mouses eyes snap wide. They are now entirely red a bright and bleeding red. Yet when they turn in his direction, Jack knows that Mouse is seeing him. Maybe really seeing him for the first time since he got here.Bear Girl flees the room, trailing a single diminishing idiom behind her No more no more no more no more Fuck, Mouse says in a rusty voice. Fuck, Im fucked. Aint I?Beezer touches the top of his friends head briefly but tenderly. Yeah, man. I think you are. Can you help us out?Bit me once. Just once, and now . . . now . . . His hideous red gaze turns to Doc. Can barely see you. Fuckin eyes are all weird.Youre going down, Doc says. Aint gonna lie to you, man.Not yet I aint, Mouse says. Gimme something to write on. To draw a map on. Quick. Dunno what you shot me with, Doc, but the stuff from the dogs stronger. I aint gonna be compos long. QuickBeezer feels around at the foot of the couch and comes up with a trade-sized paperback. Giv en the heavy shit on the bookcases, Jack could almost laugh the book is The 7 Habits of highly Effective People. Beezer tears off the back cover and hands it to Mouse with the blank side up.Pencil, Mouse croaks. Hurry up. I got it all, man. I got it . . . up here. He touches his forehead. A patch of skin the size of a keister sloughs off at his touch. Mouse wipes it on the blanket as if it were a booger.Beezer pulls a gnawed stub of pencil from an inside pocket of his vest. Mouse takes it and makes a pathetic effort to smile. The black stuff oozing from the corners of his eyes has proceed to build up, and now it lies on his cheeks like smears of decayed jelly. More of it is springing out of the pores on his forehead in minute black dots that remind Jack of Henrys braille books. When Mouse bites his lower lip in concentration, the tender flesh splits open at once. Blood begins dribbling into his beard. Jack supposes the rotted-meat smell is still there, but Beezer had been right h es gotten used to it.Mouse turns the book cover sideways, then draws a series of quick squiggles. watchit, he says to Jack. This the Mississippi, right?Right, Jack says. When he leans in, he starts getting the smell again. Up close its not even a stench its a miasma trying to crawl down his throat. But Jack doesnt move away. He knows what an effort Mouse is making. The least he can do is play his part.Heres downtown the Nelson, Luckys, the Agincourt Theater, the Taproom . . . heres where shack Street turns into Lyall Road, then Route 35 . . . heres Libertyville . . . the VFW . . . Goltzs . . . ah, Christ Mouse begins to bat on the couch. Sores on his face and upper body burst open and begin leaking. He screams with pain. The hand not holding the pencil goes to his face and paws at it ineffectually.Something inside Jack speaks up, then speaks in a shining, insistent voice he remembers from his time on the road all those years ago. He supposes its the voice of the Talisman, or whatever remains of it in his mind and soul.It doesnt want him to talk, its trying to kill him before he can talk, its in the black stuff, maybe it is the black stuff, youve got to get rid of it Some things can only be done without the minds prudish interference when the work is nasty, consciousness is often best. So it is without thinking that Jack reaches out, grasps the black slime oozing from Mouses eyes between his fingers, and pulls. At first the stuff only stretches, as if made of rubber. At the same time Jack can feel it squirming and writhing in his grip, perhaps trying to pinch or bite him. Then it lets go with a twang sound. Jack throws the convulsing black meander onto the floor with a cry.The stuff tries to slither beneath the couch Jack sees this even as he wipes his hands on his shirt, frantic with revulsion. Doc slams his bag down on one piece. Beezer squashes the other with the heel of a motorcycle boot. It makes a squittering sound.What the fuck is that shit? Do c asks. His voice, ordinarily husky, has gone up into a near-falsetto range. What the fuck Nothing from here, Jack says, and never mind. Look at him Look at MouseThe red glare in Mouses eyes has retreated for the moment he looks almost normal. Certainly hes seeing them, and the pain seems gone. Thanks, he breathes. I only wish you could get it all that way, but man, its already coming back. Pay attention.Im listening, Jack says.You better, Mouse replies. You think you know. You think you can find the place again even if these two cant, and maybe you can, but maybe you dont know quite so much as you . . . ah, fuck. From somewhere beneath the blanket there is a sick(p) bursting sound as something gives way. Sweat runs down Mouses face, mixing with the black acerbate venting from his pores and turning his beard a damp and dirty gray. His eyes roll up to Jacks, and Jack can see that red glare starting to haze over them again.This sucks, Mouse pants. Never thought Id go out this way. Lookit, Hollywood . . . The dying man draws a small rectangle on his makeshift sugar of map. This Eds Eats, where we found Irma, Jack says. I know.All right, Mouse whispers. Good. Now look . . . over on the other side . . . the Schubert and Gale side . . . and to the west . . .Mouse draws a line going north from alley 35. He puts little circles on either side of it. Jack takes these to be representations of trees. And, across the front of the line like a gate NO TRESPASSING.Yeah, Doc breathes. Thats where it was, all right. Black House.Mouse takes no notice. His dimming gaze is heady solely on Jack. Listen to me, cop. Are you listening?Yes.Christ, you better be, Mouse tells him.As it always has, the work captures Henry, absorbs him, takes him away. Boredom and sorrow have never been able to stand against this old captivation with sound from the sighted world. apparently fear cant stand against it, either. The hardest moment isnt listening to the tapes but mustering the courage to stick the first one in the big TEAC audio deck. In that moment of hesitation hes sure he can smell his wifes perfume even in the soundproofed and air-filtered environment of the studio. In that moment of hesitation he is positive(p) he isnt alone, that someone (or something) is standing just outside the studio door, expression in at him through the glass upper half. And that is, in fact, the arbitrary truth. Blessed with sight as we are, we can see what Henry cannot. We want to tell him whats out there, to lock the studio door, for the love of God lock it now, but we can only watch.Henry reaches for the PLAY button on the tape deck. Then his finger changes course and hits the intercom toggle instead.Hello? Is anyone out there?The figure standing in Henrys living room, looking in at him the way someone might look into an aquarium at a single exotic fish, makes no sound. The last of the suns on the other side of the house and the living room is becoming quite dark, Henry being u nderstandably forgetful when it comes to turning on the lights. Elmer Jespersons risible bee slippers (not that they amuse us much under these circumstances) are just about the brightest things out there.Hello? Anyone?The figure looking in through the glass half of the studio door is grinning. In one hand it is holding the hedge clippers from Henrys garage.Last chance, Henry says, and when theres still no response, he becomes the Wisconsin Rat, riot into the intercom, trying to startle whatevers out there into revealing itself Come on now, honey, come on now, you muthafukkah, talk to RattyThe figure peering in at Henry recoils as a snake might recoil when its object makes a feint but it utters no sound. From between the grinning teeth comes a leathery old tongue, wagging and poking in derision. This creature has been into the perfume that Mrs. Morton has never had the heart to remove from the vanity in the little gunpowder room adjacent to the master bedroom, and now Henrys vis itor reeks of My Sin.Henry decides its all just his imagination playing him up again oy, such a mistake, Morris Rosen would have told him, had Morris been there and hits PLAY with the tip of his finger.He hears a throat-clearing sound, and then Arnold Hrabowski identifies himself. The Fisherman interrupts him before he can even finish Hello, asswipe.Henry rewinds, listens again Hello, asswipe. Rewinds and listens yet again Hello, asswipe. Yes, he has heard this voice before. Hes sure of it. But where? The answer will come, answers of this sort always do ultimately and getting there is half the fun. Henry listens, enrapt. His fingers dance back and frontward over the tape decks buttons like the fingers of a concert pianist over the keys of a Steinway. The feeling of being watched slips from him, although the figure outside the studio door the thing wearing the bee slippers and holding the hedge clippers never moves. Its smile has faltering somewhat. A sulky expression is gro wing on its aged face. There is confusion in that look, and perhaps the first faint trace of fear. The old monster doesnt like it that the blind fish in the aquarium should have captured its voice. Of course it doesnt matter maybe its even part of the fun, but if it is, its Mr. Munshuns fun, not its fun. And their fun should be the same . . . shouldnt it?You have an emergency. Not me. You.Not me, you, Henry says. The mimicry is so good its weird. A little bit of sauerkraut in your salad, mein friend, ja?Your worst nightmare . . . worst nightmare.Abbalah.Im the Fisherman.Henry listening, intent. He lets the tape run awhile, then listens to the same phrase four times over flatter my scrote, you monkey . . . kiss my scrote, you monkey . . . you monkey . . . monkey . . .No, not monkey. The voice is actually saying munggey. MUNG-ghee.I dont know where you are now, but you grew up in Chicago, Henry murmurs. South Side. And . . .Warmth on his face. Suddenly he remembers enthusiasm on his face. Why is that, friends and neighbors? Why is that, O great wise ones?Youre no bettern a monkey on a stick.Monkey on a stick.Monkey Monkey, Henry says. Hes rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers now. Monkey on a stick. MUNG-ghee on a stigg. Who said that?He plays the 911 Kiss my scrote, you monkey.He plays his memory Youre no bettern a monkey on a stick.Warmth on his face.Heat? Light?Both?Henry pops out the 911 tape and sticks in the one Jack brought today.Hello, Judy. Are you Judy today, or are you Sophie? The abbalah sends his best, and Gorg says Caw-caw-caw Husky, phlegmy laughter. Ty says hello, too. Your little boy is very lonely . . .When Tyler Marshalls weeping, terrified voice booms through the speakers, Henry winces and fast-forwards.Derr vill be morrr mur-derts.The accent much thicker now, a burlesque, a joke, Katzenjammer Kids flirt the Wolfman, but somehow even more revealing because of that.Der liddul chull-drun . . . havv-uz-ted like wheed. Like wheed. H avv-uz-ted like . . .Harvested like a monkey on a stick, Henry says. MUNG-ghee. HAVV-us-ted. Who are you, you son of a bitch?Back to the 911 tape.There are whips in hell and chains in Sheol. But its almost vips in hell, almost chenz in Shayol. Vips. Chenz. MUNG-ghee on a stick. A stigg.Youre no bettern Henry begins, and then, all at once, another line comes to him.Lady Magowans Nightmare. That ones good.A bad nightmare of what? Vips in hell? Chenz in Shayol? Mung-ghees on sticks?My God, Henry says softly. Oh . . . my . . . God. The dance. He was at the dance.Now it all begins to fall into place. How stupid they have been How reprehensively stupid The boys bike . . . it had been right there. Right there, for Christs sake They were all blind men, make them all umps.But he was so old, Henry whispers. And elderly How were we supposed to guess such a man could be the Fisherman?Other questions follow this one. If the Fisherman is a resident at Maxton older Care, for instance, where in Gods name could he have stashed Ty Marshall? And how is the bastard getting around French Landing? Does he have a car somewhere?Doesnt matter, Henry murmurs. Not now, anyway. Who is he and where is he? Those are the things that matter.The warmth on his face his minds first effort to locate the Fishermans voice in time and place had been the spotlight, of course, Symphonic Stans spotlight, the pink of ripening berries. And some woman, some nice old woman Mr. Stan, yoo-hoo, Mr. Stan? had asked him if he took requests. Only, before Stan could reply, a voice as flat and hard as two stones grinding together I was here first, old woman. had interrupted. Flat . . . and hard . . . and with that faint Germanic harshness that said South Side Chicago, probably second or even third generation. Not vass here first, not old vumman, but those telltale vs had been lurking, hadnt they? Ah yes.Mung-ghee, Henry says, looking straight ahead. Looking straight at Charles displaceside, had he only kno wn it. Stigg. Havv-us-ted. Hasta la vista . . . baby.Was that what it came down to, in the end? A dotty old maniac who sounded a bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger?Who was the woman? If he can remember her name, he can call Jack . . . or Dale, if Jacks still not answering his phone . . . and put an end to French Landings bad dream.Lady Magowans Nightmare. That ones good.Nightmare, Henry says, then adjusting his voice Nahht-mare. Once again the mimicry is good. Certainly too good for the old codger standing outside the studio door. He is now scowling bitterly and gnashing the hedge clippers in front of the glass. How can the blindman in there sound so much like him? Its not right its completely improper. The old monster longs to cut the vocal cords right out of Henry Leydens throat. Soon, he promises himself, he will do that.And eat them.Sitting in the swivel chair, drumming his fingers nervously on the glare oak in front of him, Henry recalls the brief encounter at the bandstand. Not l ong into the Strawberry Fest dance, this had been.Tell me your name and what youd like to hear.I am Alice Weathers, and . Moonglow, please. By Benny Goodman.Alice Weathers, Henry says. That was her name, and if she doesnt know your name, my homicidal friend, then Im a monkey on a stick.He starts to get up, and that is when someone something begins to knock, very softly, on the glass upper half of the door.Bear Girl has drawn close, almost against her will, and now she, Jack, Doc, and the Beez are gathered around the sofa. Mouse has sunk halfway into it. He looks like a person dying badly in quicksand.Well, Jack thinks, theres no quicksand, but hes dying badly, all right. Guess theres no question about that.Listen up, Mouse tells them. The black goo is forming at the corners of his eyes again. Worse, its trickling from the corners of his mouth. The stench of decay is stronger than ever as Mouses inner workings give up the struggle. Jack is frankly astonished that theyve lasted as long as they have.You talk, Beezer says. Well listen.Mouse looks at Doc. When I finish, give me the fireworks. The Cadillac dope. Understand?You want to get out ahead of whatever it is youve got.Mouse nods.Im down with that, Doc agrees. Youll go out with a smile on your face.Doubt that, bro, but Ill give it a try.Mouse shifts his reddening gaze to Beezer. When its done, intertwine me up in one of the nylon tents thatre in the garage. Stick me in the tub. Im riotous that by midnight, youll be able to wash me down the drain like . . . like so much beer foam. Id be careful, though. Dont . . . touch whats left.Bear Girl bursts into tears.Dont cry, darlin, Mouse says. Im gonna get out ahead. Doc promised. Beez?Right here, buddy.You have a little service for me. Okay? Read a poem . . . the one by Auden . . . the one that always used to frost your balls . . . ?Thou shalt not read the Bible for its prose, Beezer says. Hes crying. You got it, Mousie.Play some Dead . . . ?Ripple, maybe . . . and make sure youre full enough of Kingsland to christen me good and proper into the next life. Guess there wont . . . be any grave for you to piss on, but . . . do the best you can.Jack laughs at that. He cant help it. And this time its his turn to catch the full force of Mouses crimson eyes.Promise me youll wait until tomorrow to go out there, cop.Mouse, Im not sure I can do that.You gotta. Go out there tonight, you wont have to worry about the d disgust dog . . . the other things in the woods around that house . . . the other things . . . The red eyes roll horribly. Black stuff trickles into Mouses beard like tar. Then he somehow forces himself to go on. The other things in those woods will eat you like candy.I think thats a chance Ill have to take, Jack says, frowning. Theres a little boy somewhere Safe, Mouse whispers.Jack raises his eyebrows, unsure if hes heard Mouse right. And even if he has, can he trust what hes heard? Mouse has some powerful, evil poison working in h im. So far hes been able to stand pat it, to communicate in spite of it, but Safe for a little while, Mouse says. Not from everything . . . theres things that might still get him, I suppose . . . but for the time being hes safe from Mr. Munching. Is that his name? Munching?Munshun, I think. How do you know it?Mouse favors Jack with a smile of surpassing eeriness. It is the smile of a dying sibyl. Once more he manages to touch his forehead, and Jack notes with horror that the mans fingers are now melting into one another and turning black from the nails down. Got it up here, man. Got it alll up here. Told you that. And listen its better the kid should get eaten by some giant bug or rock manoeuver over there . . . where he is . . . than that you should die trying to rescue him. If you do that, the abbalah will wind up with the kid for sure. Thats what your . . . your friend says.What friend? Doc asks suspiciously.Never mind, Mouse says. Hollywood knows. Dontcha, Holly-wood?Jack nods reluctantly. Its Speedy, of course. Or Parkus, if you prefer.Wait until tomorrow, Mouse says. High noon, when the suns strongest in both worlds. Promise.At first Jack can say nothing. Hes torn, in something close to agony.Itd be almost full dark before you could get back out Highway 35 anyway, Bear Girl says quietly.And theres bad shit in those woods, all right, Doc says. Makes the stuff in that Blair Witch Project look fuckin tame. I dont think you want to try it in the dark. Not unless you got a death wish, that is.When youre done . . . Mouse whispers. When youre done . . . if any of you are left . . . burn the place to the ground. That hole. That tomb. Burn it to the ground, do you hear me? Close the door.Yeah, Beezer says. Heard and understood, buddy.Last thing, Mouse says. Hes speaking directly to Jack now. You may be able to find it . . . but I think I got something else you need. Its a word. Its powerful to you because of something you . . . you touched. Once a long time ago . I dont understand that part, but . . .Its all right, Jack tells him. I do. Whats the word, Mouse?For a moment he doesnt think Mouse will, in the end, be able to tell him. Something is clearly struggling to keep him from saying the word, but in this struggle, Mouse comes out on top. It is, Jack thinks, very likely his lifes last W.Dyamba, Mouse says. Now you, Hollywood. You say it.Dyamba, Jack says, and a row of weighty paperbacks slides from one of the makeshift shelves at the foot of the couch. They hang there in the dimming air . . . hang . . . hang . . . and then drop to the floor with a crash.Bear Girl voices a little scream.Dont forget it, Mouse says. Youre gonna need it.How? How am I going to need it?Mouse shakes his head wearily. Dont . . . know.Beezer reaches over Jacks shoulder and takes the pitiful little scribble of map. Youre going to meet us tomorrow morning at the sand Bar, he tells Jack. Get there by eleven-thirty, and we should be turning into that goddamn lane r ight around noon. In the meantime, maybe Ill just hold on to this. A little insurance policy to make sure you do things Mouses way.Okay, Jack says. He doesnt need the map to find matey Burn-sides Black House, but Mouse is almost certainly right its probably not the sort of place you want to tackle after dark. He hates to leave Ty Marshall in the furance-lands it feels wrong in a way thats almost sinful but he has to remember that theres more at stake here than one little boy lost.Beezer, are you sure you want to go back there?Hell no, I dont want to go back, Beezer says, almost indignantly. But something killed my daughter my daughter and it got here from there You want to tell me you dont know thats true?Jack makes no reply. Of course its true. And of course he wants Doc and the Beez with him when he turns up the lane to Black House. If they can bear to come, that is.Dyamba, he thinks. Dyamba. Dont forget.He turns back to the couch. Mouse, do you No, Doc says. Guess he wont ne ed the Cadillac dope, after all.Huh? Jack peers at the big brewer-biker stupidly. He feels stupid.Stupid and exhausted.Nothin tickin but his watch, Doc says, and then he begins to sing. After a moment Beezer joins in, then Bear Girl. Jack steps away from the couch with a thought queerly similar to Henrys How did it get late so early? Just how in hell did that happen?In heaven, there is no beer . . . thats why we drink it here . . . and when . . . were gone . . . from here . . .Jack tiptoes across the room. On the far side, theres a lighted Kingsland amplitude Golden Pale Ale bar clock. Our old friend who is finally looking every year of his age and not quite so gilt peers at the time with disbelief, not accepting it until he has compared it to his own watch. well-nigh eight. He has been here for hours.Almost dark, and the Fisherman still out there someplace. Not to mention his otherworldly playmates.Dyamba, he thinks again as he opens the door. And, as he steps out onto the spli ntery porch and closes the door behind him, he speaks aloud with great sincerity into the darkening day Speedy, Id like to wring your neck.