Parenting that Reflects the Image of God

Parenting that Reflects the Image of God Abstract The inceptive understanding of God by children is deeply shaped by their relationships with their parents. Premium Christian parenting will endeavor to reflect the character of God as a foundation for developing the childs emerging relationship with God. A solid foundation for children to experience the love of God laid by providing genuine love with clear boundaries. I. Introduction The most influential environment in the lives of the majority of children is the home. The first experience of the world by a child is the family and continues to occupy a dominant portion in their lives until adulthood. Though the school also plays an important role for most children and youth, the family remains the nucleus of their life experience. The family has played a crucial role in the outworking of the purposes of God on earth from the beginning. The family has been designed to provide the platform for the nurture and training of each subsequent generation. God designed the family to reflect and bring forth the spiritual truth. The Scripture makes use of images of the family to speak of our relationship with God in Christ. Believers are adopted children in the family of God (Romans 8:15-17). God is our Father (Hebrews 12:5-11), and we are his children and joint heirs with Christ (1 John 3:1; Romans 8:17). These relationships illustrate the high calling and task which accompanies Christian parenthood. The primary focus of this paper is to develop some strategies for parents who want to raise their children in a way that will reflect the image of God. To carry out this assignment, some research findings and biblical principles on loving, disciplining and developing children of spiritual and moral character will be examined. II. The Research on Parenting and Children Gods Concepts. The huge influence of home and family is much greater than what happens the few hours that children spend Church or other Christian programs. It is the home that provides the primary shape for the spiritual understanding of children (Smith, 2005). Though the formal spiritual upbringing in the home is valuable, there is proof to suggest that more noteworthy for spiritual development is the nature of connection that is raised in the family. Variety of studies have pointed to substantial correlation that exits between parental childrearing practices and children concepts of God (Choua Uata, 2012; de Roos, 2006; Lee Earia, 2000; Limke Mayfield, 2011; Moriaxty Hoffman, 2007) The recent research of neurotheologian (Albright Ashbrook, 2001; Newberg, dAquili Rause, 2001) suggests that there may be some form of Gods Spot in every human (Beauregard OLeary, 2007; Hay Nye, 2006; Seybold, 2007). Whether Gods Spot exit or not, the agreement is that children natural spiritual curiosity appears to be inborn. Possibly, the best interpretation of the research starts with the identification of the fact that the search of a child for God is tinted by human relationships. One interesting study has pointed to the value of bidirectional religious communication in the home in which parents and children are active, and both are active, and both behave in ways that may ultimately influence the other (Boyatzis Janicki, 2003). The situation in which parents both listen and guide the childrens expression of faith will likely lead to long-term faith and commitment on the part of the children. Parent-child affinity is the most instant and persistent relationship that go through in childrens early developmental years of life, and this is probably the reason why this relationship deeply impact children perception of God. Concerned parents who recognize this pattern always look for ways and means to direct their children to a healthy relationship with God. Studies have also shown that fathers relationship with the children may be more influential. Longitudinal Study of Generation LSOG) has shown a substantially greater impact on religious transference in close father-child interaction than close mother-child interaction (Bengtson, Putney, Harris,2013). III. Biblical Principles for Parenting that reflects the Image of God. 1.The atmosphere Of the Christian Home. A home that is represented by the presence of God should be filled with an atmosphere of love, forgiveness, openness, acceptance and honesty. The ideal Christian home should be a place of fun, creative activities, enjoyment, encouragement and relaxed attitudes. This can only be possible if Christ is the unified factor in the life of the family and parents set a good example of what it means to be a believer in Christ. There is the need for Christ-like attitude to prevail in parents so that every member of the household is made to feel very important in the family. Parents should model before their children the quality of mutual respect for one and other. The individuality and dignity of each member of the family must be recognized in a positive and encouraging manner. Parents should avoid favoritism, and there should be no comparison of one child with another. The great mistake that Rebeca made by loving Jacob more than Esau his senior brother should be avoided in the home. It is also very important for parents to ask for forgiveness from their children when they embarrass, mistreat or break a promise. This good attitude will make honesty and esteem for each member of the household to be implanted in the mind of the children. IV. Spiritual Development Principles The Scripture states in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Hear O Israel! The Lord is our God; the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your might. Parents cannot impact what they do not have to their children. It follows therefore that parents should have a growing relationship that their children can emulate with God. The first necessary condition for a godly parent is to love God with all his strength and might. And this can be achieved through an unfailing relationship of dependence, trust, and communion with the Lord. Before love can radiate in our home, it must first be in our hearts as we respond to Gods love and walk in it. Another condition can be found in Deuteronomy 6:6 which states, And those words which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. Parents need to respond to Gods love and also to His W ord. The Word of God speaks to every area of life, and the success of parents in any area depends so much on the degree to which they know and make a claim on relevant biblical principles. Children cannot be raised in the image of God by doing just what comes to mind naturally. Deuteronomy 6:20-24 admonishes parents to tell their children when they ask questions about what the requirements and regulations that commanded mean. In other words, parents should be ready to share their testimonies of the goodness of the Lord in their lives. This will make parents a living model for their children. What parents communicate through their actions are far more than what they say verbally. In other words, parents must demonstrate practically the reality of their faith for their children to emulate. Children will copy and do exactly what they see in their parents. If parents are dedicated to positive spiritual change and growth, their children will follow suit. They will not walk in the way of the Lord just because they are told to do so. This is because children respond to reality, not pretense or lip service. For instance, if a father who wants his children to grow in the image of God is unkind to his wife and treats others with disrespect, the children will be confused with the distorted image of God. A healthy view is best transmitted by the parent who will allow the Spirit of God to make them loving and Christ-like. Another principle that will help parents to raise children in the image of God is that of love and boundaries. Though the language of fatherhood is not directly given in the story of creation, one can see the balance between love and boundaries displayed in Genesis chapter one. Here God provided an environment of space for Adam and Eve and all the creatures. The separation of light from darkness in Genesis 1:4-5 and the waters below (Genesis 1:6-7) show Gods value for order and space. When God created Adam, He provided a space He provided a space for him to carry out the first assignment of naming all the animals (Genesis 2:19-20). In like manner parents need to create order and space in which children will be able to express their voices, we reflect Gods character in our relationship with them (Shaw Constatineanu, 2003). In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus completely redefined the fatherhood of God. The image of God in this parable is that of a father whose love, care, forgiveness, goodness and compassion has no limits. The central theme in the Gospel narratives is Immanuel, incarnation, and paralysis. God in Christ enters the world of his children to direct them to God. In the same manner, Christian parents must reflect Gods character by entering into the world of their children in other to show them the way to God. In Jesus teaching, he made mention of how God cares for the birds of the air in Mathew 6:26, makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and allows rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Mathew 5:45), and looks after little ones (Mathew 18:14). Paul also extends the same message to all believers ware formerly slaves to the devil, but now they are now the beloved children of God (Galatians 4:6). This invitation is now for parents whose lives can become a good example of what it means to made in the image of God and live a life full of love and holiness. A good reflection of the character of God as an example for family life is a challenge to many of our traditional stereotypes of the roles of gender in parenting. God is not only referred to as a father, but many images suggest His motherly fatherhood. In Psalms 17:8, God is described as a mother eagle who hovers over its young, and then pushes the eaglet out of the nest (Deuteronomy 32:11), while underneath is the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:27). Jesus also made use of imagery to express his emotions towards Jerusalem in Mathew 23:37. When parents understand the richness of Gods love and His holiness, their lives become a clear witness to others. In the same manner, homes are represented by boundaries and love are likely to show Gods holiness and love under which children can embrace the gospel and live to display the character of God. The placing of a child in the midst by Jesus in Mathew 18:2 points to the mutual nature of parenting that reflect the image of God; children learn about God through the nature of their relationship with their parents and the character and behavior of children can alert adults to the challenges of living with integrity in their covenant relationship with God (Shaw Constantineanu, 2013). Children should be encouraged and sanctioned within the family, both parents and children experience the mutual joy of learning and growth that is one of the features of hospitable space. 1.Love and Discipline (i) Love Rules and regulations are important in the home, but they cannot have meaning unless they are within the context of a relationship. Some parents do not discipline their children because they dont want to hurt their feelings. This is a wrong approach because a child that is not disciplined will eventually become unruly. The Scripture in Hebrews 12:6 states that the Lord chastens those whom He loves and scourges every son whom He receives. Whenever it becomes necessary to punish a child, it is important to give to give reasons and at the same time reaffirm your love so that the child will know that you hate his behavior, not him. Philippians 4:8 admonishes us to allow our minds to dwell on what is honorable, true, pure, of good report and worthy of praise. Love lays emphasis on the positive, not the negative. Parents who use loving affirmation accomplish more than those who make negative comments. Parents can teach their children to love by displaying love. It is very disheartening to children to see their parents fighting or yelling at each other. Love should be the lifestyle of everyone in the home. (ii). Discipline. The Scripture admonishes parents in 1 Timothy 3:4 to maintain discipline at home. But this discipline as discussed earlier must be balanced with love. Discipline without love will lead to hostility and resentment. Love without discipline will spoil a child. Ephesians 6:1-4 will help in maintaining a balance. The words instruction and discipline refer to preventive and corrective discipline. Biblical discipline involves both the negative activity of punishment for disobedience and the positive aspect of teaching children the way they should go. Protective teaching should be supported with corrective action and correction should be reinforced by teaching. The book of Proverbs teaches that children are not good naturally. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, the rod of discipline will remove it far from him. Proverbs 23:13-14; Proverbs 22:15. Children tend to be selfish; they do not understand love regarding giving themselves to others but regarding receiving. A prudent parent recognizes these facts and also understand that children can be taught. Proverbs 9:18 admonishes parents to discipline their children while there is hope. The rod and correction give wisdom, but a child who is always having his own way will bring shame to his mother Proverbs 29:15. To bring up a child in the image of God, parents must be consistent in their discipline because inconsistent discipline results in frustration, insecurity, and anger. Christian parents must have biblical philosophy of child discipline so that there will be consistent and agreement between husband and wife in they respond to disobedience. Children receive mixed signals when parents are divided or disagree about discipline. If you must use threats to correct your child, then make sure you follow the threat through or else your children will not take you seriously. (iii). Forgiveness Parents should always remember that regardless of what method they use to discipline their children, the goal of discipline is forgiveness and reconciliation. Children must be taught that disobedience to parents is sin and thus, teach your child to confess his sin of disobedience to God and thank Him for forgiving him. Forgiveness should result in restoration of fellowship and forgetting of the offense. If a parent makes forgiveness a lifestyle, he will be modeling the love and forgiveness of God (1 Timothy 1:9). Forgiveness impacts the inner life while discipline focuses on the outward behavior. V. Conclusion The Christian home has been referred to as a laboratory for the appliance of biblical truth in a rational situation. It is the childs training ground for the impression of values, the development of relationship, for teaching and learning to obtain and give love. Parents have been assigned the responsibility of determining their children character and directing their spiritual, intellectual, psychological, emotional and physical growth. This responsibility should not be left to outside institutions. Many studies carried out on this issue support the fact that there is a substantial correlation between parental childrearing practices and childrens concepts of God. The home that is filled with the atmosphere of love, openness, forgiveness, acceptance and honesty is the ideal place to raise a child in the image of God. There are biblical principles that can be applied to bring up children in fear of the Lord. A good reflection of the image of God as an example for family life is a challenge to many of our traditional standards of the roles of gender in parenting. God is not only referred to as a father, but many images suggest His motherly fatherhood There should be love and boundaries which will be applied in the home. Punishment must be applied when necessary to check indiscipline and disobedience as instructed in Hebrews 12:6. If parents make forgiveness a lifestyle, they will be modeling the love and forgiveness of God (1 Timothy 1:9). Forgiveness impacts the inner life while discipline focuses on the outward behavior. Proverbs 23:13-14 tells us that children are not good by nature and the parents have the responsibility to use the rod of correction. Notwithstanding the method of punishment used, the goal of discipline is forgiveness and reconciliation. REFERENCES. Albright, C., Ashbrook, J. (2001). Where God lives in the human brain, Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks. Bengtson, V., Putney, N. Harris, S. (2013). Families and Faith:How religion is passed down across generations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Boyatzis, C., Janicki, D. (2003). Parent-child communication about religion: Survey and diary data on unilateral transmission and bidirectional reciprocity styles. Review of Religious Rsearch, 44(3), 252-270. Shaw, P., Constantineanu, C. (2013), Space community, engagement and empowerment: Missionlogical equipping for a new mission era. Paper presented at the 4/14 Window Missiology Conference, Seoul, Korea. Choua, H-T., Uata, D. (2012). The impact of parental discipline on the image of God, Mental health, Religion Culture. 15(7),677-688.

Ratio

Ratio decidendi and obiter dicta Learning objectives At the end of this module, you will be able to: * distinguish between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. * apply well-established rules to identify the ratio decidendi in a decision. This module is intended as a useful exercise in revision. If you are certain that you understand how to discover the ratio in an opinion, you should skim lightly over this material. What is the ratio decidendi? As you probably recall from your studies, the term ratio decidendi is a Latin phrase which means the â€Å"the reason for deciding†. What exactly does this mean?In simple terms, a ratio is a ruling on a point of law. However, exactly what point of law has been decided depends on the facts of the case. | The importance of material facts As Goodhart A L (1891–1978) pointed out long ago in the 1930s, the ratio is in pratical terms inseparable from the material facts. Goodhart observed that it â€Å"is by his choice of material facts t hat the judge creates law†. By this Goodhart meant that the court's decision as to which facts are material or non-material is highly subjective, yet it is this inital decision which determines a higher or lower level of generality for the ratio.Goodhart's reformulation of the concept of the ratio was the subject of heated debate, particularly in the 1950s. Compare Goodhart's concept of the ratio with Lord Halsbury's statement that: â€Å"Every judgement must be read applicable to the particular facts proved, since the generality of the expressions which may be found there are not intended to be the expositions of the whole law but govern and are qualified by the particular facts of the case in which such expressions are to be found. Lord Halsbury (1901)What, if any, is the difference between Goodhart's material facts and Halsbury's particular facts? | What are obiter dicta? Obiter dicta is a Latin phrase meaning â€Å"things said by the way†. Obita dicta are not bindi ng (unlike the ratio), but they may be regarded as persuasive in a future decision. The weight given to dicta usually depends on the seniority of the court and the eminence of the judge in question. Obiter dicta are judicial opinions on points of law which are not directly relevant to the case in question.They are made when a judge chooses to give some indication of how he or she would decide a case similar, but not identical, to case under consideration. These statements are often meant to clarify the legal principle which the judge proposes to apply in his or her judgement. For this reason, obiter dicta often take the form of analogies, illustrations, points of contrast or conclusions based on hypothetical situations. Obiter dicta in one case might be adopted as ratio decidendi in subsequent cases. This occurs when a situation regarded as hypothetical by one judge arises in a subsequent case.Distinguishing between ratio and obita is not always simple. When questioned regarding the difference between ratio and obiter, Lord Asquith once remarked that: â€Å"The rule is quite simple: If you agree with the other bloke you say it is part of the ratio; if you don't you say it is obiter dictum, with the implication that he is a congenial idiot†. Although intended humorously, this remark has a good measure of truth. | Ratio decidendi and obiter dictaHow well do you recall the concept of the ratio decidendi from your undergraduate studies?Take a moment to read through the following statements: * A ratio decidendi is not an abstract principle, to be applied in a deductive fashion to a later case. Instead the ratio is a ruling on a point of law in relation to a specific case. * Only the ratio binds an inferior court. Cases themselves do not bind. * If the court is not required to make a ruling on a point of law, its decision will not give rise to a ratio. * There is no requirement for each judgement to contain a single ratio and no more. Multiple rationes are qu ite normal. Not every statement of law contained in a decision is necessarily ratio or obiter. A judge may refer to a principle only to express his or her disagreement or for the sake of completeness. For a statement of law to be ratio or obiter, the judge must express his or her explicit agreement with the principle. These are not mere niceties of legal doctrine. Bearing these points in mind will help you when you come to identifying the ratio in a judgement. | Finding the ratio decidendi Identifying the ratio in a judgement is frequently difficult.Judges are under no obligation to label the different parts of their judgement as ratio or obiter. In most cases, you need to read the entire judgement to determine the ratio. Some of the reasons for this include: * length of judgements. Many judgements are extremely lengthy and are written in dense, legal language. The ratio may not be expressed in a single sentence or even a single passage. * the lack of an explicit ratio. The extreme example of this is the judgement in Raffles v Wichelhaus [1864] 2 H&C 906. This famously consisted of a single sentence: â€Å"There must be judgement for the defendants†. the existence of multiple lines of argument. Some arguments will be ratio, others will be obiter and others might be neither. * uncertainty regarding which facts were material to the judgement. Judges sometimes fail to indicate which facts are significant and which are not, making it difficult to determine the appropriate level of generality at which a ratio should be stated. In some instances, a case will establish a legal principle which is refined over time, being broadened or narrowed as the result of successive judgements. | Why does finding the ratio have to be so hard?At the Tenth Commonwealth Law Conference, Bennin F A suggested that it would be better if judges were more explicit regarding the legal rules which they set down in their decisions. The answer given by Kirby J on this occasion was that judges would be reluctant to do so as â€Å"the discursive nature of their judgments is the historic basis of the development of the common law†. Bennion has argued that â€Å"there seems no reason why a judgement could not contain both a brief ‘legislative' passage and an accompanying discursive explanation†.What difficulties, if any, can you see with this suggestion? | Ratio in appellate decisions The problems associated with identifying the ratio in the case decided by an individual judge are multiplied in the case of appellate decisions. Most applelate courts sit with a an uneven number of judges. To discover the ratio of an appellate decision, you need to determine the ratio in the case of each individual judgement. The rule is that only the rationes contained in the majority judgements need to be considered.If a majority of judges agree on the same reasoning, you have identified a single ratio. Otherwise, there might be multiple rationes, or even none. Case s without a ratio In a some cases, there may be no majority support for any particular ratio. In such instances, subsequent courts tend to assume that all that is binding is the judgement itself. This means that subsequent cases will be decided on the basis of the decision only when the material facts are almost identical. This is not a purely theoretical possibility.In Paykel v Commissioner of Taxation (1994) 49 FCR 41, Heerey J applied the judgement of the majority in Hepples v Federal Commissioner of Taxation (1992) 173 CLR 492, despite the lack of a discernable ratio in the former decision. Finding the ratio There are a number of rules of thumb that you can use to determine the ratio decidendi. These include: * distinguish the facts which the court regarded as material from those which appeared unimportant. * discover the precedents applied. These will provide an indication of the court's approach. * in deciding the ratio, restrict your analysis to the opinions of the majority j udges. read subsequent decisions to find how the decision has been interpreted. The ratio that becomes recognised as a rule of law may not be the ratio that apparent in the original judgement. The last point is one that is sometimes overlooked. In many instances, the ratio in an individual judgement is less important than the legal principle for which a line of cases can be cited as authority. When reading a judgement, consider it at several level. Apart from reading the decision for what it actually says, read it also in terms of its subsequent reception.Assess the arguments of the judges and the advocates in the context both of the case and the future development of the law. If you are building an argument on the basis of a particular case, it is often dangerous to look at the case in isolation. In finding the ratio, it is often useful to consider the way in which judgements are written. Although there is no standard model, they often follow a broad pattern. In most cases, the jud gement is divided into three sections: * the facts agreed or proven * the range of applicable legal principles * the application of the appropriate principle to the facts.There are a number of formal tests that have been devised to assist in discovering the ratio. Two of the best known were developed by United States jurists: these are Goodhart's Test and Wambaugh's Test. Goodhart's Test Goodhart proposed these rules for finding the ratio decidendi: * The principle of a case is not found in the reasons given in the opinion. * The principle is not found in the rule of law set forth in the opinion. * The principle is not necessarily found by a consideration of all the ascertainable facts of the case, and the judge's decision. The principle of the case is found by taking account (a) of the facts treated by the judge as material, and (b) his decision as based on them. * In finding the principle it is also necessary to establish what facts were held to be immaterial by the judge, for the principle may depend as much on exclusion as it does on inclusion. Goodhart's Test has gained considerable popularity. However, as stated above, it is not without its critics. Wambough's Test Eugene Wambaugh (1856–1940) developed an older, but still useful, test. Warmbough's Test first appeared in a book published in the United Sates in 1894.Like Goodhart's Test, Wambaugh's rules focus on the question of what facts are material and which are not. Wambaugh begins with the observations that * no matter how accurate a legal proposition may be it does not necessarily form part of the ratio decidendi. * the proposition is not governed by all the facts, but by the material facts. Wambaugh recommends that you take the following steps if you think you have identified a potential ratio in a judgement: * frame the legal principle that you have identified from a judgement. invert a word or phrase which reverses the meaning of the principle. * ask yourself, if the court had the inverse principle in mind when reaching its decision, would it have reached the same conclusion? * if the answer to this question is yes, then your original proposition cannot be the ratio. Note that Wambaugh's Test works only with cases with a single ratio. Summary This module dealt with the following: * distinguishing between ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. * applying well-established rules to identify the ratio decidendi in a decision.

Comparing poems about identity Essay

In this essay I will be comparing two poems about identity-â€Å"Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan† by Moniza Alvi and â€Å"Welsh Landscape† by R.S. Thomas. â€Å"Welsh Landscape† was written in approximately 1963. It’s a poem of dismay; Thomas is despairing about what is happening to his country. Although he has an obvious love for his country, in â€Å"Welsh Landscape† this is almost hidden by Thomas’s feelings of bitterness and frustration at what’s happened to the once infamous landscape, history and language of Wales. Thomas wishes that Wales would just move forward and embrace its heroic past, but in his eyes this just isn’t happening. â€Å"Presents from my Aunts in Pakistan† was written in the late 20th century. It’s also a poem of despair-but in a different way. Thirteen-year-old Moniza Alvi isn’t angry, but she’s uncomfortable where she is and wishes that she could fit in. She’d give anything for that. She wishes desperately that she could feel more at home and ordinary in Britain, where she’s lived practically all her life, but she can’t. She can’t reconcile her two cultures-Pakistani and English-and she’s confused and upset about this. Moniza Alvi wonders why she can’t fit in and feels utterly trapped. This is like Thomas’s poem; he feels that his country is trapped between two cultures-English and Welsh-too. Both Alvi and Thomas feel that they’ve completely lost their identities. Both poets explore their culture in these poems. They’re both proud of many aspects of their cultures, but feel that a lot needs to be done to enable them to live in their idea world. RS Thomas seems angry. He talks about how in Wales you â€Å"cannot live in the present† and how there’s â€Å"only the past†. He’s angry that that over the years, the Wales he knows and loved has crumbled away. It could have been avoided. Thomas directly addresses his reader when he comments that â€Å"You cannot live in the present†. Here, he’s saying that this is the same for everybody in Wales; it’s unavoidable. Although you can tell that Thomas is proud of his culture (he talks about the â€Å"immaculate rivers† and the â€Å"soft consonants†) he believes that a more negative atmosphere has now taken over his country. He believes that Wales should remain purely Welsh, and anybody who defies that is â€Å"inbreeding†. Overall, I think that RS Thomas is trying to say that we should appreciate Wales but be conscious of its violent past and try to move on from that-instead of being trapped between the past and present. At the moment, people just aren’t moving on. Moniza Alvi, on the other hand, feels lost. She’s confused. She longs to be able to wear her â€Å"glistening†, â€Å"satin-silken†, â€Å"embossed† clothing, but can’t fee comfortable in them. â€Å"My costume clung to me and I was aflame,† she says. â€Å"Aflame† implies that when she wears these clothes, she feels embarrassed and angry that she doesn’t look right. â€Å"Costume† suggests that these don’t feel like her ordinary clothes; it’s like she’s trying to be something that she’s not. However, although she longs for â€Å"denim and corduroy† (ordinary, plain British clothes) she doesn’t describe them with anywhere near as much enthusiasm. They’re plain, even if they are comfortable, and here we see that Moniza Alvi is again torn between her two cultures. She’s envious of her Aunt Jamila, who can â€Å"Rise up out of its fire, half English†. She feels that she can’t do this at all. She simply wants to be accepted for who she is. She loves her Pakistani clothing-it looks â€Å"radiant† in her wardrobe-but on her, it just doesn’t look right. She talks about her mother’s â€Å"cherished† jewellery which was stolen from her car. The jewellery, like her, was stolen from its roots-now it’ll never be cherished in the same way again. She then goes on to discuss the â€Å"camel-skin† lamp. Just like her, the camel-skin lamp has been taken out of its own culture and put somewhere else. She says that she considers its â€Å"cruelty†-we see here that the lamp is a metaphor for herself. She feels that she has been treated cruelly when she was taken out of her culture and put somewhere else-and she’s having difficult dealing with it. Ever since she left Pakistan, she’s felt out of place. On the journey to England, Moniza Alvi says that â€Å"prickly heat had me screaming on the way†-her trek to England even started off on the wrong foot. She â€Å"ended up in a cot†-this implies that as soon as she arrived in England she was completely trapped. She then immediately â€Å"found myself alone, playing with a tin boat†. She;s already lost, and the tin boat insinuates that she already wants to sale back home. She just wants to feel right where she is; she doesn’t have an identity. Here, we see a contrast between the two poems that I’m studying-brittle as it is, at least RS Thomas has an identity. The mood throughout â€Å"Welsh landscape† is that of frustration. RS Thomas is irritated because he sees the potential in Wales-â€Å"the constant noisy tractor† and the â€Å"hum of the machine† which implies that work in Wales is indeed moving forward. He sees the beauty of Wales in the â€Å"immaculate† rivers and the â€Å"wild† sky, but is angry that people aren’t willing to maintain this beauty in other aspects of Wales-the â€Å"wind bitten towers and castles† and, â€Å"mouldering quarries and mines†. He’s frustrated that people aren’t maintaining the areas that his country has always been famous for. He feels that he’s been affected unnecessarily-if the Welsh people did what in his eyes are their duties, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He’s extremely aggravated that this has been allowed to happen and that Wales’ reputation and condition is continuing to deteriorate. He’s worried that eventually, Wales won’t even have its â€Å"soft consonants† and, â€Å"wind-bitten towers and castles† to its name-they’ll be allowed to die out.

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