The Character of Tom Joad free essay sample

The Character of Tom Joad In the novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck delves deep into each character thoroughly. Throughout the book, Steinbeck uses intricate descriptions in order to depict the development and subtleties of each character. Each character has a unique personality that essentially develops into new qualities and attributes. Such development is seen in many characters throughout the book, including Rose of Sharon. She is seen as immature at the start of the book, but by the end, she quickly learns to take the world into account and grows to become less selfish. This is only one of the substantial growths in character can be seen in the characters of this novel. One of the many characters in this novel that greatly portrays this character development is Tom Joad. Tom Joad, as a character, changes severely throughout the book from the selfish person he was, to a figure committed to bettering the future, as well as an improved leader for the family. We will write a custom essay sample on The Character of Tom Joad or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Several examples of Tom’s changes can be seen throughout the book, as a result from his experiences with Jim Casy, as well as conversations he has with his mother. Tom Joad shows that he is a selfish person at the very beginning of the book. At the beginning of the novel, Tom is introduced as a former fugitive now on parole. At most, the reader may think that he is the antagonist of the book because of the fact that he had killed a man. Tom is introduced as selfish from the very moment he is described. â€Å"‘I’d do what I done-again,† said Joad. â€Å"I killed a guy in a fight. We was drunk at a dance. He got a knife in me, an’ I killed him with a shovel that was layin’ there,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (25). Tom Joad was not reluctant at all when he was telling his story of how he got into prison. The fact that he does not care that he killed a man, and even offered to do it again shows that he is a selfish person. He did not care for another mans life, and did not bother to look for an alternate solution to the situation he was in. He only cared about himself when it came to killing, and showed no mercy. If given the decision to take back what he had done, Tom Joad would have kept things the way they were, proving his egotism. As the novel progresses, Tom transforms from this selfish nature to become a caring person. Several examples of this transformation are seen throughout various chapters. When the Joads are traveling west to California with the Wilson’s, Tom offers to help them when their car breaks down. â€Å"Tom said nervously, ‘Look Al. I done my time, an’ now it’s done†¦ Let’s jus’ try an’ get a con-rod an’ the hell with the res’ of it. ’† Tom is showing a little more care for other people’s problems, however, he still has a selfish side because he still does not regret killing a man. He knew he had to pay for it by going to prison, but he still believes he did nothing wrong by taking a man’s life. By offering to help out with the Wilson’s’ car, he is on his way to becoming a less selfish person. As the book draws to a close, Tom stumbles upon Jim Casy again, who is murdered in front of his own eyes. As a result, he is thrown into a silent rage and kills another man which causes him to hide in the forest. He realizes that he is a danger to his family, so he sacrifices his safety in order for his family to be safe. ‘â€Å"Ya can’t do that, Ma. I tell you I’m jus’ a danger to ya,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (391). There is a clear transition from Tom acting selfish at the beginning of the book to him acting completely selfless at the end. This selflessness also contributed to him being a figure committed to bettering the future. As Tom Joad becomes more selfless, this particular quality helps him to become a person who has the future in mind. The main ideals that influence him are the philosophies of Jim Casy as the Joad family is traveling west to California. Tom is first exposed to Jim Casy’s principles in the very beginning of their journey to California. Casy says to Tom, ‘â€Å"I figgered, ‘Why do we got to hang it on God or Jesus? Maybe,’ I figgered, ‘maybe it’s all men an’ all women we love; maybe that’s the Holy Sperit-the human sperit-the whole shebang,’† (24). Tom begins to believe in Casy’s beliefs as he tells him of his ideals and as they spend time together. Tom begins to follow Casy and his belief of â€Å"the human sperit,† and that it could be humans that we need to spend time on; not God or Jesus. This idea gradually begins to dwell on Tom, and it results in him becoming less selfish over time. He begins to be more helpful towards his family and towards others in general, and becomes valuable to the family. The ideals Casy invoked in Tom clearly made him committed towards the future by the end of the book. As Tom was hiding in the woods, he told Ma his thoughts that were inspired by Jim Casy. â€Å"Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there. If Casy knowed, why, I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’-I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ the y know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build-why, I’ll be there,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (419). Jim Casy’s death allowed Tom to realize that he wanted to help the world using what he had learned from Casy’s ideals. After all of Casy’s advice, Tom had finally changed his view of the world. He realized he had a purpose in life, and he wanted to use it to protect humanity. Tom rambled onto Ma about how he wanted to help whoever was in need and to make the world a better place. This is far from what he aspired to do at the beginning of the book. As the novel progresses, Tom’s character develops from wanting to live a normal life to wanting to live the life of a person who wants to better the world. As Tom gains this new view of the world, he begins to become a leader for the Joad family. The Joad family comes across many hardships as they make their way across the United States to California. Life changing experiences were brought upon the family members, including the death of loved ones, such as Grandpa and Grandma. Pa was beginning to lose his authority as the figure to look up to, and began to look weak. Ma was doing the best she could to help the family, as she was main person who interacted with everyone, as well as made food for the family. As the Joads made their way across the states, a father figure had to spring up in order to keep the family together. Al was not yet mature enough, as he was only seventeen, and expressed constantly that he only cared about himself. We can see this attitude when he talks about leaving the family when they get to California, as well as when he gets married to a person he knows for only a few weeks. With the older and younger figures out of the loop, Tom was the likely candidate to be the new leader of the Joad family. Tom was practically forced to become the leader to guide his family, as no one else either volunteered or was capable of taking the job. When the Joad family arrives at the Weedpatch government camp, the first thing Tom does after they settle down is look for work. â€Å"Don’t you wake nobody up, but when they get up, you tell ‘em I got a chancet at a job, an’ I’m a-goin’ for it. Tell Ma I et breakfas’ with some neighbors. You hear that? †Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (292). Tom acts like a leader by trying to find work and providing for his family in any way possible. This leadership role had built up his character because he had to step up into a new and unfamiliar role, making him a stronger person. Tom Joad has developed greatly throughout the novel The Grapes of Wrath. There was an immense change in the character of Tom from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. He transformed from the selfish person he was to a caring, selfless person. Including this increase in character, Tom also committed to bettering the future through adopting Casy’s teachings. Jim Casy’s principles were the driving force for all of his character development. The commitment to better the future allowed Casy to become a selfless person. By bettering the future, one has to care for others, so by using Casy’s teachings, he was able to further develop into a better person. In addition, Tom has to adopt a role as the leader for the Joad family. By doing this, he is putting himself into a new situation which only strengthens his character and tests his ability to keep the family together. Casy’s teachings also apply to Tom’s becoming a leader. Due to the role of Tom becoming a person who wants to better the future, one of the roles in which he could promote this ideal is by being a leader. By leading the people he is close to, he would be able to become someone who can lead other groups of people in order to help better the future. Tom grows into a whole new person by the end of this book, and learns many new things from the people around him.

Au1 free essay sample

The following are independent statements concerning certain auditing issues. Required Indicate whether you agree or disagree with each statement, and explain your reasoning. a. An adverse report would be issued when an auditor was unable to observe a company’s inventory count at the beginning of the year because the auditor was appointed during the year. (1 mark) b. When encountering a violation of generally accepted accounting principles in an audit of financial statements, the auditor will decide between an unqualified report, a qualified report, or an disclaimer of opinion report. The main consideration will be the materiality of the matter in question. (1 mark) c. A public accountant is not required to be independent of an entity to perform a compilation engagement for that entity. In such a situation, however, disclosure of a lack of independence is not required. (1 mark) d. If there is significant doubt and material uncertainty that an auditee will continue operating in the future and these doubts have been properly disclosed in the notes to the financial statements, the auditor is required to include an emphasis of matter paragraph in the audit report. We will write a custom essay sample on Au1 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (1 mark) e. When replaced as auditor, the outgoing auditor has a professional responsibility to reply promptly to an enquiry letter from the incoming auditor, but is not required to allow the incoming auditor access to the most recent year’s audit working papers. When an auditor uses a substantive audit approach (setting control risk at maximum) to an audit of financial statements, the auditor is still required to gain an understanding of the internal controls. (1 mark) g. The auditor is not required to use the same approach (combined or substantive) for all transaction cycles as well as for the various transaction or balance-related audit objectives. (1 mark) Question 2 (7 marks) The audit risk model has become the commonly used basis for audit planning. The following are independent situations which could have an effect on various components of the audit risk model. Required For each situation, identify the element(s) of the audit risk model (that is, audit risk, inherent risk, control risk, and detection risk) that is (are) most likely to be directly affected and the nature of the change in risk levels (increase or decrease) relative to a typical audit. Explain your reasoning. a. The company is experiencing significant cash-flow difficulties and is currently seeking to obtain external financing. Inherent risk will increase since risk of misstatement is greater, and as result audit risk increases; no impact on control risk and detection risk b. The client is a small family-owned company with few employees. The owners have not yet hired an accounting clerk and the bookkeeping function is performed on an ad-hoc basis whenever one of the members has time to complete the tasks. The accounting records are often left incomplete for several months at a time. (1 mark) Control risk will increase c. A client’s vice president, finance, was recently charged with tax fraud by the Canada Revenue Agency. Inherent risk will increase as well as control risk as VP may have overriden controls due to position d. The client operates 40 retail outlets. Every year the auditor attends the inventory count for a sample of 20 stores. In the current year the auditor increased the number of locations attended to 25 stores. (1 mark) Detection risk decrease, control risk increase and audit risk – increase (? ) e. An auditor observes a significantly lower than expected number of compliance deviations while testing a client’s internal controls. (1 mark) Inherent and control risks increase f. Subsequent to the audit, the client implemented all internal control recommendations made by the auditor. (1 mark) Control risk decrease or unchanged, not sure g. The company established an internal audit department in the current year being audited. (1 mark) Control risk will decrease Question 3 (12 marks) Required For each of the following independent situations, state whether the CGA has violated generally accepted auditing standards and/or the CGA-Canada Code of Ethical Principles and Rules of Conduct or Independence Standard, and explain your reasoning. a. During his audit of Waste Ltd., which operates a major waste disposal facility in Alberta, John, CGA, encounters several unusual cash disbursements, leading him to suspect that his client may be illegally bribing government inspectors who inspect the disposal facility for compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Even though the evidence is only circumstantial, John issues a qualified opinion on the company’s financial statements. Based on his assessment, he also decides that it would be inappropriate to inform the Alberta Department of Waste Management of the potential impropriety. As such, he does not notify the authorities of the potential violation. (2 marks) b. Mable Goodwill, CGA, is a sole practitioner. Her office currently performs most of the daily bookkeeping functions for Gladfill Inc. , a privately held company. Mable also supervises the accounts receivable clerk employed by Gladfill and assumes all managerial responsibilities when the principal owner is on vacation. This year, Gladfill Inc. has applied for a bank loan, and a condition of the loan requires that Gladfill provide audited financial statements. Gladfill’s management has engaged Mable to continue performing the bookkeeping services as well as perform an audit. (2 marks) Violation of theR202, Independence of CEPROC self-review treat c. Roger, CGA, serves as a member of the board of directors of a travel agency and also prepares the agency’s financial statements (a compilation engagement) and tax returns, and prepares the personal tax returns of the principal owners of the business. Roger discloses his board affiliation in the Notice to Reader paragraph accompanying the financials. The travel agency’s other board members, including the agency’s owner, have agreed that the modification is inappropriate, since no assurance was provided and independence is not a condition that is required for this type of engagement. The board members told Roger that should he continue to disclose the affiliation, they would engage another CGA for the completion of the compilation in subsequent years. Roger agreed that independence was not a requirement for a compilation and removed the disclosure. (2 marks) d. Sam, CGA, is a partner in an assurance practice and is currently investigating the possibility of accepting a new client engagement. He has written to the predecessor auditor (also a CGA) and enquired as to whether there are any circumstances that should be taken into account that might influence his decision to accept this client. Despite two follow-up attempts, the predecessor auditor did not respond to Sam’s request. Sam accepted the engagement. (2 marks) e. Sandy, CGA, has been the partner in charge of the Licrest audit for four years. Licrest is a public company whose shares are actively traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Licrest’s senior management made an offer of employment to Sandy for the position of Chief Financial Officer. They believed that Sandy’s intimate knowledge of Licrest’s operations made her a perfect candidate for the position. Sandy accepted the position and began her employment with Licrest one month after the most recent audit was completed. (2 marks) f. Walter, CGA, has just completed the audit of ABX Company, a small privately held company whose financial statements are used primarily by its bank as a basis for renewing the company’s line of credit. During the audit for the current year, Walter noted several weaknesses in internal controls, which influenced his substantive test design, and which he described in his management letter to the owner. The owner thereupon asked Walter to redesign the control system in an effort to eliminate these weaknesses and to suggest other ways in which the efficiency of the operation could be improved. Walter accepted this additional engagement. (2 marks) Question 4 (12 marks) The purpose of substantive testing is to verify the assertions made by management in the financial statements. Consider the following unrelated audit tests, which a CGA performed for the audit of the financial statements of a client with a fiscal year end of December 31, 2011. Required For each of the six audit procedures listed below, identify the primary management assertion being tested and the account balance being verified, name the specific audit procedure being used, and state the quality of the audit evidence obtained (high, moderate, or low), explaining why the evidence is the quality level you specify. Organize your answer with these headings: Management assertion and account balanceAudit procedureQuality of audit evidence a. Sent negative confirmation requests to a sample of customers with unpaid balances at December 31, 2011. (2 marks) b. During the company’s normal physical inventory taking on December 31, 2011, selected items from the client’s inventory listing and performed test counts. (2 marks) c. Vouched property, plant, and equipment additions to supporting documents, including the supplier invoice, shipping, and payment documents.(2 marks) d. Calculated an estimated total managerial payroll expense by multiplying the average salary by the number of managers. Compared the estimated payroll expense with actual and discussed the cause for the 20% variance with client management. (2 marks) e. Recalculated depreciation expense related to property, plant, and equipment. (2 marks) Reasonableness, Depreciation account/ Recalculation/ f. Verified that the bank balanc e as indicated on the December 31, 2011 bank reconciliation agreed to the bank confirmation. (2 marks) Question 5 (12 marks) Madeleine, CGA, is a senior auditor in charge of the field work for the audit of a client’s financial statements (with a year end of December 31, 2011). During the conduct of the audit, Madeleine discovers that as a result of the audit client’s competitor introducing a superior product to the market, the auditee has experienced a significant decline in sales volume. Consequently, the company is suffering from severe cash shortages and there is significant concern that the company may not be able to meet is current obligations. The client is currently trying to secure a loan from the bank. Madeleine informs management that they must include a note disclosure informing the users of the financial statements of the potential going-concern issue. Client management indicates that that the company is very close to releasing a new product that will compete directly with that of its competition. They are currently in negotiations with the bank for a loan, and the extra funds will provide the company with the extra capital it needs to get the new product to market. Management indicates that the bank will not loan the money if the disclosures are included in the financial statements, and without the loan, the company will be forced to declare bankruptcy. After much discussion, the client convinces Madeleine that a going-concern note disclosure is not required since the company is in the final stages of developing a competitive product, and once the company receives the funds from the bank loan, it will be able to introduce the new product in the market, sales will increase, and it will be able to continue operations and meet its current obligations. Stakeholders, meanwhile, need to know the exact state of a company’s financial affairs. With enough warning of possible business failure, potential investors can think twice about where to put their money, and existing shareholders can cut their losses. Lenders also need this information to assess the likelihood of default on a loan 1. The problem is whether it is ethical for senior auditor, Madeline, CGA, to accept management rationale not to include a note disclosure informing the users of the financial statements of the potential going-concern issue. The company being audited is currently seeking 2. The first alternative is to, 2nd alternative 3. The decision between the two alternatives should be based on the Principles of Ethics and Rules of Conduct. 4. In analysis of rules that are relevant to this case, I considered importance of ethical behavior in audit engagements; professional judgment in accounting situations as well as ethical implications faced Madeline. 5. The ethically correct solution to this situation Required What are the moral/ethical issues, if any? What should Madeleine have done? Use the relevant steps from the nine-step case analysis approach you studied in Topic 2. 5. (You can also find the case analysis approach in How to analyze a case under the Resources tab. ) Marks will be allocated as follows: Identify problems and issues1 mark Generate alternatives3 marks Select the decision criteria1 mark Analyze and evaluate the alternatives6 marks Recommend an action for Madeleine (explain your reasoning)1 mark 50