Existentialism: Does Life Have Meaning? Essay

Most people would like to think that their life has some kind of meaning or purpose. However how this meaning in life is obtained can cause some differing views. One may believe that they were born with a purpose in life and the other may believe that it is their own responsibility to give their own life meaning. While the first belief may be the preferred option, it doesn’t seem very practical. Existentialists believe that one must give meaning to their own life, which in all reality seems to be the truth. In the novels Their Eyes Were Watching God, Crime and Punishment, The Awakening, The Stranger, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the existential view that the individual is responsible for giving their own life meaning is confirmed through the character’s actions, pressures of society, and the overall meanings of the works. The behaviors of the characters in these various novels help explain their search for meaning in life. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeal Hurston, the main character Janie is on a search for her true purpose in life. She spent her whole life being controlled by her grandmother and her first two husbands, and now that she is living her life with her third husband Teacakes, she is beginning to discover her true potential. Janie is always trying to serve the men in her life so much to the point that she belittles herself into having no meaning to her own life. Janie began to try to find her own meaning in life early in the novel. In chapter two it states, â€Å"Janie was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid. † At this point Janie realizes that it is her own responsibility to create her own purpose in life and she sets out to do so. By the end of the novel, Janie realizes that she can only depend on herself to be happy and she must put her own needs before the needs of others, thus finding her meaning of life. The actions of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, seem to be a constant search for the meaning of life. In Act Three, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have a conversation after they realize that their mission they were sent on is now useless. They say, â€Å"Guildenstern: We’ve travelled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation. Rosencrantz: Be happy—if you’re not even happy what’s so good about surviving? We’ll be all right. I suppose we just go on. † Guildenstern has clearly determined that life has no meaning to it at all and that he is just waiting for death. However, Rosencrantz recognizes that they must make their own meaning of life. Rosencrantz indicates that the fact that life as a whole does not have any obvious meaning does not mean that it is impossible for any individual life to have meaning. Rosencrantz’s response is an attempt to find meaning and purpose on precisely this individual level. When faced with the chaos of life, Rosencrantz decides that his personal purpose will be to seek pleasure for himself. They begin to realize that they must make their life meaningful on their own rather than by the expectations of others, supporting the existential view. Societal expectations play a big part on one’s quest to find the meaning of life. In the The Stranger by Albert Camus and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the main characters are conflicted by the pressures of society and doing what they want to do. In The Stranger, Meursault kills a man on the beach and is going through a trial, where he is eventually sentenced to the death penalty. Meursault knows that society is against him and wants him to be put to death. However, Meursault doesn’t want to die. Like all people, Meursault comes to realize that he has been born, will die, and will have no further importance. Only after Meursault reaches this seemingly dismal realization is he able to attain happiness. When he fully comes to terms with the inevitability of death, he understands that it does not matter whether he dies by execution or lives to die a natural death at an old age. This understanding enables Meursault to put aside his fantasies of escaping execution by filing a successful legal appeal. Meursault sees that his hope for sustained life has been a burden. His liberation from this false hope of not being executed means he is free to live life for what it is, and to make the most of his remaining days. With this, Meursault discovers the existential view that it was his own responsibility to give his life meaning and he should stop worrying about societal pressures. Raskolnikov, the main character in Crime and Punishment, finds himself in a similar situation to Meursault. He murders two women and is now debating on whether to turn himself into the police or not. This ultimately leads to Raskolnikov’s existential crisis: to live or to die. In the novel Raskolnikov says â€Å"Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or think, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d only room to stand, and the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once! Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be! † This shows that by the end of the novel, Raskolnikov understands that he must make his life meaningful in order for him to want to live. He knows that he was born into this world with no meaning and he has to give himself a purpose in life to strive towards, no matter what society says. Society wants Raskolnikov to just get executed, but he decides to serve his time in person so that he could still make meaning in his life after he got out of prison. Raskolnikov came to understand that only he could fulfill his purpose in life and he must live in order to do so. In the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, the overall meaning of trying to find one’s true self helps support the existential belief of the responsibility of creating one’s purpose in life. Edna Pontellier is unhappy with her life and she begins to try to find a way out. â€Å"In short, Mrs. Pontellier was beginning to realize her position in the universe as a human being, and to recognize her relations as an individual to the world within and about her. † She has this â€Å"awakening† where she realizes that she needs to stop living for everyone else and instead live for herself. Towards the end of the novel she says, â€Å"†I would give up the unessential; I would give my money, I would give my life for my children; but I wouldn’t give myself. I can’t make it more clear; it’s only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is revealing itself to me. † She has discovered that her meaning in life was not to be the perfect wife or mom, but to live for what is best for her. Edna knows that she needs to create her own meaning for her life so she decides to leave her old life behind and set out to do so. By the end of the novel, Edna commits suicide because she realizes that the only way she can escape her life that she is living for everyone else is just to end her life all together. All in all, the existential belief that one must create their own meaning in life is supported in the novels through the characters’ actions, societal pressures, and the overall meanings of the works. Many of the characters can teach the readers a lesson on how to live for oneself and not be influenced by the wants of others. One only has a single life, so they must make the most of it and create their own purpose in life in order to actually live. If one doesn’t live for their own meaning and purpose in life, then what is the point of living? It’s your choice, but just remember, you only live once.

History Of The Amputation Procedure Health And Social Care Essay

Harmonizing to WebMD â€Å" an amputation is the remotion of portion or all of a organic structure portion enclosed by tegument. Amputations are performed to take morbid tissue or to alleviate hurting † . The first amputations were performed in the Neolithic times, the first recorded instance of an amputation and prosthetic replacing surgery appears in the book of the Vedas. Most of the first amputations occurred during times of war, where injury to the appendages was really common. During the American Civil War if you were shot in the trunk there was a great opportunity that you would decease, but if you were shot in an appendage, quickest and most common option was amputation. When available the civil war sawboness put Chloroform on a fabric, so the fabric was held over the victim ‘s oral cavity and nose until the individual became unconscious. Because of the big figure of hurt soldiers the sawboness became experts with amputations, most of the clip the amputations could be performed in approximately 10 proceedingss. The sawboness were non healthful, because there was a deficit of H2O therefore they made no effort to rinse custodies or instruments between surgeries, despite all of this the survival rate of the amputees was at about 75 % . The bulk of the Civil War sawboness learned this process from this book â€Å" The Practice of Surgery † , by Samuel Cooper. This book was the â€Å" How To † book of executing amputations for the sawbones s. This book discusses the measure by measure ways to cut off the leg, below the articulatio genus, the arm, and the fingers and toes. Some of the instruments that the Civil War sawboness used were the compression bandage, scalpels, bone proverb, and bone childs. The compression bandage was used to curtail the flow of blood during an amputation process. The scalpel was used to do scratchs in the tegument. The bone proverb were used to cut straight through bone, and musculus. The bone childs were used to take matchwoods from the bone that the bone proverb could hold caused. Today there are many different types of amputations ; they are first categorized under upper limb amputations, and lower limb amputations. The upper limb amputations include: amputation of single figures, multiple digit amputation, metacarpal amputation, wrist disarticulation, forearm ( trans-radial ) amputation, elbow disarticulation, above-elbow ( trans-humeral ) amputation, shoulder disarticulation, and forequarter amputation. Amputation of single figures is the remotion of a finger ; this will do the patient problem hold oning objects. Multiple digit amputation is the remotion of two or more fingers, hold oning ability may be aided if the sawbones is able reconstruct the musculus. Metacarpal amputation is the complete remotion of the manus, with the carpus still integral ; with this type of amputation there is no ability to hold on. Wrist disarticulation is the remotion of the full manus up to the degree of the carpus articulation. Forearm ( trans-radial ) amputation this is the remotion radius, it is classified by the size of the staying stump ; as the stump length decreases so does the ability for the patient to revolve their forearm. Elbow disarticulation is the remotion of the full forearm up to the cubitus ; the patient still has the ability of keeping weight. Above-elbow ( trans-humeral ) amputation is the remotion of the humourous anyplace above the cubitus and below the shoulder ; prosthetic device could be used if there is some length left on the humourous. Shoulder disarticulation is the remotion the of the full arm, the shoulder blade still remains and the collar bone may or may non be removed. Forequarter amputation is the remotion of the full arm, shoulder blade, and collar bone, normally some bone is left in order to attach a prosthetic devices. The lower limb amputations include: foot amputations, ankle disarticulation ( Syme amputation ) , below-knee ( trans-tibial ) amputation, knee-bearing amputation, above-knee ( trans-femoral ) amputatio n, and hip disarticulation. Foot amputations are the remotion of any portion or part of the pes including toes, and mid-tarsal ; this type of amputation may impact balance and walking. Ankle disarticulation ( Syme amputation ) is the remotion of the full mortise joint ; with this type of amputation the victim can still mobilise without a prosthetic devices. Below-knee ( trans-tibial ) amputation is the remotion of the shinbone above the mortise joint, but below the articulatio genus ; victims keep the usage of the articulatio genus, but have problem seting weight on the stump. Knee-bearing amputation is the complete remotion of the lower leg ; it is normally more hard to make a prosthetic device for this type of amputation. Above-knee ( trans-femoral ) amputation is the remotion of the thighbone up to the degree of the thigh ; the victim can still sit with this type of amputation. Hip disarticulation is the remotion of the full leg ; sawboness try to go forth every bit much of the t highbone as possible in order to attach a prosthetic device. With all the amputations, upper and lower appendages, the sawbones will seek to go forth every bit much bone as possible in order to attach a prosthetic device. In the United States entirely there are over 350,000 amputees, and over 135,000 amputations happening each twelvemonth. In the United States the taking cause for amputations is disease ( 70 % ) , the 2nd leading cause is trauma ( 22 % ) , inborn or birth defects ( 4 % ) , and tumours ( 4 % ) . The most common diseases and conditions that can do an amputation are peripheral artery disease, arterial intercalation, impaired circulation as a complication of diabetes mellitus, sphacelus, terrible cryopathy, Raynaud ‘s disease, and Buerger ‘s disease. More than 90 % of all disease doing amputations are due to circulative complications of diabetes. 60-80 % of all of these amputations involve the lower appendages. Peripheral arteria disease causes amputations by the blood vass indurating that causes the blood to be blocked from making tissues in the organic structure ‘s appendages ; because of this these tissues finally die, which causes the demand for an amputation. Arteri al intercalation causes a blood coagulum to organize which blocks the flow of blood and so causes the tissue to decease and necessitate to be amputated. Diabetess mellitus is a disease where non adequate insulin is produced by the organic structure and hapless circulation occurs as a consequence of the diabetes, the hapless circulation can do tissue to decease, which would so necessitate to be amputated. Gangrene is the decease and decay of one time living tissue, the dead tissue is removed through an amputation. Frostbite is when tissue on the organic structure freezes, ensuing in hoar bite, in terrible instances the tissue dies and so would hold to be removed through an amputation. Raynaud ‘s disease is a disease largely found in immature adult females, it causes reduced blood flow to the appendages ; this could so do the tissue in the appendages to decease. Buerger ‘s disease is a episodic disease that causes redness and obstruction of the venas and arterias of the ap pendages, normally merely occurs in work forces under age 40, who smoke, this disease may necessitate amputation of the custodies or pess. The 2nd prima cause of an amputation is trauma. Harmonizing to Merriam-Webster injury is an hurt ( as a lesion ) to populating tissue caused by an extrinsic agent. There are many different possible injury, they can happen with but are non limited to auto accidents, terrible Burnss and gunshot lesions. During a traumatic hurt, blood vass and other organic structure tissue constituents are ripped or torn beyond fix by these types of hurts, go forthing no other option but amputation. Another cause of an amputation is a congenital or birth defect amputation. Congenital amputations occur in the uterus while the babe is still developing ; blood flow to a limb can go restricted because of other tissue. As a consequence the limb could be lost and the babe is born with a inborn amputation. The other cause of amputations are by tumours. Peoples with malign ant neoplastic disease that have malignant tumours, need to cut off the country in which the tumour is, in order to forestall the malignant neoplastic disease to further spread to other parts of the organic structure. Undergoing an amputation has many effects on the organic structure, both psychological and physical. These effects are happening before and after the surgery. Many new amputees have a hard clip with covering with the loss of a limb which has been with them since birth, merely the idea of holding to work without something that you have had entree to your whole life is a traumatic event in of its ego. When people are told that they are traveling to necessitate an amputation the most common reaction is shock. Many of the victims go through a period of denial, the people think â€Å" this ca n't go on to me † or â€Å" I wo n't allow you make this to me. † Many amputees may besides develop choler towards themselves, loved 1s and God. Amputees think to themselves â€Å" why me? † Many of the new amputees face being worried about the hurting during surgery and during the recovery period. Before the surgery the patients try to â€Å" dicker † with God, the sawbon es, or both to halt the demand for the amputation. After this does n't work many times the patient begins to hold symptoms of depression. Most people in the terminal learn to get by with the loss of their limb and accept what has happened. The amputation will hold a important impact on the patient ‘s self image, which could be positive or negative. Some of the amputees may experience a greater feeling of strength developed in the attempt to get the better of the losingss which have occurred late in their life. A good thing for amputees is run intoing with other amputees to assist each other header. However this new ego imagine of themselves could besides be negative if the amputee is concerned about how people will comprehend them, because they feel that they need to affect. Many are besides concerned because they feel that they wo n't be respected because they are crippled. Just like people need clip to retrieve psychologically and emotionally, the amputees need to retrieve p hysically. After the process, the patient will necessitate to be prescribed pain medical specialty, and antibiotics in order to forestall an infection from happening. The amputated part demands to be moved in order to make good circulation. The patient normally will get down physical therapy within 48 hours after surgery, to advance a speedy and effectual recovery. Depending on the gravitation of the amputation, depends on the clip that the patient will pass in the infirmary, it normally varies from several yearss to two hebdomads. Rehabilitation is a long procedure for amputees. Patients with an upper appendage amputation will most likely work with an Occupational Therapist. Patients with a lower appendage amputation will most likely work with a Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist. The clip that a recovery takes depends on assorted factors such as: physical form before the amputation, age, other medical jobs, ability to larn how to utilize a prosthetic device, how good you follow wa ies, motive to retrieve, and your psychological province. As with any major surgical process, amputations have major hazards with undergoing with this process. Hazards with the anaesthesia exists, every bit good as the possibility of heavy blood loss, and the possibility of blood coagulums organizing. Another major hazard of the process is infection to the amputated part. The rate of infection is at approximately 15 % , if the stump were to go septic the prosthetic device would hold to be removed and perchance a 2nd amputation higher up the appendage. Another major hazard is the stump neglecting to mend. This normally happens when there is a deficiency of blood to the amputated limb. Another hazard is phantom limb hurting, which is hurting that feels like it ‘s coming from a organic structure portion that ‘s no longer at that place. The intervention to phantom limb is hard, but it is possible. New amputees will sooner or subsequently have to confront that it will be harder to make the mundane undertakings that they used to finish. Although most of these undertakings are more hard, they are n't impossible, because of prosthetics. From the clip that amputations started, there were prosthetic device for the losing limbs. The prosthetic device were every bit simple as a wooden leg in the clip of early prosthetics. Today as engineering has advanced from the clip of early prosthetics, so has the prosthetic device made for amputees. Today there are prosthetic device that can pick up urges from the nervus that are amplified into a motor that make the elbow crook or unbend out, or the fingers open and near. For above the articulatio genus patients there are new prosthetic device which use motion-tracking detectors, vacuity suction engineering to supply improved tantrum, comfort and control. Since the recent promotions of these new prosthetic device people can populate similar to th e life that they used to populate. Amputations are a minor reverse for some unbelievable people who have gotten through their calamity, and have become noteworthy people in the universe of amputees. Heather Mills was the former married woman of Beatle Paul McCartney ; she was besides an English militant and a former glamor theoretical account. In August of 1993, Mills was hit by a constabulary bike while traversing the route, her hurts included crushed ribs, a pierced lung, and terrible hurt to her left leg. She needed a metal home base put into her pelvic girdle and the amputation of her leg below the articulatio genus. Bethany Hamilton is an American surfboarder who survived a shark onslaught in where she lost her left arm ; she overcame the serious and debilitating hurt and returned to surfing. Her narrative was so inspiring that there is a film that was late released about her called â€Å" Soul Surfer † . Daniel Inouye President pro tempore of the United States Senate is another noteworthy amputee. Daniel Inouye lost his right arm in the war, he remained in the armed forces until 1947, and he was uprightly discharged with the rank of captain. Inouye had programs to go a sawbones, but because of the loss of his arm, he abandoned his dream and returned to college to analyze political scientific discipline on the GI Bill.

World civilization Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

World civilization - Coursework Example tremendous zeal in supporting the crusades aimed at recovering the Holy Land and thereby succeeded in bringing in a measure of political unity in Christendom under the aegis of the Catholic Church (Moore 24). As a Pope he was very tough on the pagans and heretics and took a series of measures aimed at annihilating all sorts of heresies and paganism existent in Europe (Moore 24). This further strengthened the domain of the Church over Europe and made the leading European monarchies pledge subservience to the Pope and hence to the Catholic Church. He centralized the Church’s administration and extended sanctions to the varied Catholic mendicant orders with the sole objective of doing away with the rot and corruption existent in the Catholic Church. One of his biggest achievements was the usage of the Fourth Lateran Council to consolidate the Church’s hold over the ecclesiastical and political proceedings in Europe (Moore

Recent large earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, and Japan Essay

Recent large earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, and Japan - Essay Example Earthquakes mainly occur in countries harboring coastal oceanic shores, more predominantly in Asia continent. The region is called ring of fire where arc of earthquakes and volcanic zones stretch at pacific more than 90% of earthquake occurs. The word tsunami comes from a Japanese word meaning harbor wave, literary translated as oceanic gravity waves produced by sub-marine earthquakes or caused by geological processes such as volcanic eruptions and landslides. Tsunamis arise due to subduction occurring underwater resulting to huge raptures raising sea beds to some meters away displacing a huge cubic of waters in coastal areas. The tsunami waves are usually smaller in deep oceans but its impact is felt in harbors and coastal areas thus being catastrophic, in other places it is known as tidal waves or Seismic sea waves (Lee p.437). 2.0. Geology of Chile (2010), Haiti (2010) and Japan (2011) Earthquakes. Chile is among the seismically located countries in the world, facing approximately 8 events after 10 years. The most recent earthquake occurred in 27th February 2010 (Fig 1), it did release energy that had accumulated since the last subduction earthquake in 1835. Figure 1 Chile’s earthquake of 2010 Source: http://www.earthquake-pictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2010 Chile is located in subduction zones along the coast of the Pacific Ocean similar to Japan. It has three well differentiated Seismically zones; thrust earthquakes of larger magnitude at shallow depths along the coast, larger quakes due to larger magnitude as a result of tensional and compressed subducted Nazza plates, and shallow Seismicity in the outer rise (Jiron p2). The earthquake of magnitude 8.8 lasted between 110 and 180 seconds in which rupture started at the hypocenter and spread bilaterally northwards of Pichilemu and kilometers towards the Peninsula, comprising a length of about 450 km long and average slip of about 10-12 cm, destroying all things on the way (Jiron p.16). Haiti is one of the Caribbean countries; on 12th January 2010 an earthquake (Fig. 2) of about 7.0 magnitudes lower than Chile 2010 earthquake occurred in the country. Figure 2 Haiti’s earthquake of 2010. Source: http://www.earthquake-pictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/H The quake occurred when tectonic plate of Caribbean shifted approximately 20 millimeters in relation to the North American plate. The cause of the quake was rapture of Ennquillo plantain garden fault, which for about 250 years had locked it. The place where the quake occurred is highly seismic and was recorded historically as a place of destruction earthquake (Farmer p.54). There was an aftershocks of about 4-5 magnitude which occurred after the main quake. Japan is located in a region that faces quakes each and every year; it lies on a region that is baptized ring of fire where an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretch at pacific. The earthquake occurred in 2011; it was measured to have a magnitude of a bout 8.9 which is large compared to both Haiti 2010 and Chile 2010 earthquakes (Fig. 3) it was followed by nuclear crisis in one of its plants (Nanto p.1). Fig. 3 Japan earthquake 2011 Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8375788/Japan-earthquake-what-causes-them.html The earthquake led to a further 23 foot tsunami and 50 more

Trends and challenges in HR management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends and challenges in HR management - Essay Example Timely performance management can be used to identify, measure, and develop those individuals who could be the stars of a company (Campbell & Garfinkel 1996). A system of annual appraisals works with the idea that performance should be managed at the end of a give year but the more modern version of the process looks at performance from quarter to quarter which is the process used by many Fortune 500 companies (Grote, 2002). The annual appraisal system may put a considerable time gap between the time high performance was shown and the time when the reward for the performance is received. Kerr (1996) uses the example of giving food pellets to a mouse in a cage when a button is pushed by the mouse and says that if the reward comes a year after the button was pushed, it would be difficult to readily associate the two acts Of course, quarterly appraisals or other systems that have a shorter feedback loop as compared to annual appraisals may demand more time from managers as well as the employees if 360 performance evaluations have to be used. However, compared to an annual system of performance appraisals, more timely systems can give a company the means by which their strategic HR objectives, evaluation purposes and HR needs analysis could all be met (Bretz, Milkovich, & Read, 1992). Thus the annual appraisal system may come with the advantage of less time and money invested by the company; it certainly has its own set of drawbacks which make other systems more attractive. In essence, there are two primary approaches that can be taken towards an appraisal system i.e. an approach which focuses on the behavior of the employees and an approach that focuses on the results produced by the employee. However, in real world scenarios, the methods used by companies may take elements from both approaches to create a performance appraisal system for the employees. Amongst them the two more popular ones remain

Marketing Communication Manager for Local Chain of Fast-food Assignment

Marketing Communication Manager for Local Chain of Fast-food - Assignment Example The market, contribution, and limitation of competitors are central to competitor analysis (Sekhar 2010 p.67). And it is a systematic review of competitor’s activities for gaining competitive advantage (Harris 2009 p.24). KFC remains the most important challenge for the Burger Hut. KFC has spread across the world and has largely been able to open various branches and franchises in almost all countries, including in the mainland China. Furthermore, it has been observed that the KFC has largely been to retain its current market share in China. And its current market share and market position have largely been supported by various factors. KFC has a strong brand image. Brand and quality are two words that are mostly used interchangeably. And when this is applied to KFC, it can be easily extracted that they collectively represent KFC’s image in the minds of its customer. It is relevant to highlight that it is the prime contribution of KFC brand image that has enabled the company to retain its market share in China and in other countries where it is currently operating. It would not be incorrect to say that effective marketing strategy has also played its role in making the KFC brand image more competitive and unique as well. The KFC has adopted different marketing strategy in which it gives more importance to all those methods which enable the company to penetrate the different markets. For example, in some countries, the KFC has opened up its branches and in other countries; it has issued the franchise ownership to the local investors.

Researching Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Researching Politics - Essay Example The purpose of this essay is to examine how relevant the Marshall plan was to Western Europe’s economic recovery. The European continent had been devastated by the War. Most of them were battling with a series of issues. The continent was plagued with so many problems because the Second World War had been more expansive than the First World War. Industrial production was one of the key areas that had been affected by this war. This was largely as a result of the attack that nations had to face from aerial attacks. Some of the most developed cities in the continent urgently needed assistance. Berlin and London were such examples; also, there was an urgent need to look for mechanism of rebuilding other cities like Rotterdam that had been completely destroyed. (Bonds, 2000) Agricultural matters were also exerting a lot of pressure on members of the European continent. After the war, many people could not access food because agriculture had been destroyed. Infrastructure was also another problem owing to the fact that bridges, roads and rails had been air struck thus leading to their overall damage. Also, the war had used up much of the treasures that these European countries had placed in store. Consequently, there was a need to look for a system in which they could deal with some of these problems. It should also be noted that the Second World War had come after the First World War. This latter war led to a serious recession within the European continent. Also the US had played a large role in streamlining some of these problems prior to the Marshall Plan. For instance, it is on record that the US assisted Germany in paying its war reparation through a debt given to them. In the US States Department, Harry Truman became interested in luring very active foreign policy. However, the US Congress was not as enthusiastic as this leader was. In fact, at that time, the US Congress thought that Europe would look for