Risk management practices at HSBC Dissertation

Risk management practices at HSBC - Dissertation Example The paper tells that managing risks is integral to the overall strategy of banks but banks fail to manage risks. Several recent incidents and events have led banks to recognize that they are exposed to significant risks apart from the traditional credit and market risks. Scholars identify a positive relationship between risk management practices, understanding risk, risk identification, risk assessment and analysis, risk monitoring and credit risk analysis. While many banks failed, HSBC is one of the leading banks that have been able to sustain the financial recession and still maintain profits. It would be of immense value to the financial sector and particularly to the banks in the emerging economies to investigate into the strategies that HSBC adopted to suit the changing business environment. With the aim to investigate how HSBC manages risks in the interest of all its stakeholders, four objectives were set in Chapter I. All the objectives have been achieved. The study finds that HSBC has a robust strategy in place to manage risks. They take a cautious approach, train their business managers, have diversified portfolios with risk-graded products, focus on emerging markets, educate their clients and maintain adequate internal control procedures. Most importantly, their international strategy helps them sustain the external environment. All their measures start much before the event or the crisis which makes it easier for them to manage the risks. They employ the latest technology and software in all their processes. HSBC manages risks both through risk aggregation and risk decomposition. They consider risk as an opportunity and because they are able to manage risks better, they can deliver shareholder value. All of these factors have made them emerge successfully in turbulent times. The study concluded with recommendations for further areas for research. Table of Contents Chapter I: Introduction 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Rationale for study 3 1.3 Research Aims an d Objectives 5 1.4 Structure of the study 5 1.5 Limitations to the study 6 1.6 Chapter Summary 7 Chapter II: Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Overview 8 2.2 Definition and the concept of risks 8 2.3 Importance of risk management 9 2.4 Types of risks and the theoretical framework applied by banks 11 2.5 Why banks fail to manage risks 21 2.6 Risk management strategies adopted by banks 21 2.7 Mitigation of risks 23 2.8 Chapter Summary 24 Chapter III: Methodology 3.1 Chapter Overview 26 3.2 Introduction 26 3.3 Data and sources 27 3.4 Justification for secondary data 27 3.5 Sample 28 3.6 Theoretical framework for the study 29 3.7 Hypotheses of the study 30 3.8 Data analysis 30 3.9 Reliability and validity 31 3.10 Ethical concerns 31 3.11 Chapter Summary 31 Chapter IV: Findings 4.1 Chapter Overview 32 4.2 Presentation of Results 32 4.2.1 The UK banking sector 32 4.2.2 HSBC – overview 33 4.2.3 HSBC Strategy for risk management 33 4.2.4 Hypotheses 38 4.3 Analysis of Results 43 4.4 Chapt er Summary 49 Chapter V: Conclusion & Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 50 5.2 Recommendations for further research 53 5.3 Learning outcome 53 References 55 Appendix 59 Tables and Figures Figure 2.1 Risk Architecture 17 Figure 4.1 Enterprise-wise risk management 35 Figure 4.2 Impaired loans to Gross Adnaces 38 Figure 4.3 Industry-wise credit risk 39 Figure 4.4 Credit Risk Profile 41 Chapter I: Introduction 1.1 Background Commercial banking relates to several activities such as providing products and services to the customer, engaging in financial intermediation and in management of risks (Sensarma & Jayadev, 2009). Banks have lately been reporting of difficulties faced by them but the risks taken by the banks have increased (Dedman & Robert-Tissot, 2001). For instance, the Asian financial crisis affected the performance of the region and led to an economic depression that impacted the financial institutions worldwide (Odit, Dookhan & Marilyn, 2011). Following the 2008 financial crisis, the banks reacted immediately to their capital structure concerning

Moral Mutation and the apocalyptic future Essay Example for Free

Moral Mutation and the apocalyptic future Essay The two texts, the film and the book, were set in a post-Hiroshima world where arsenals were being further improved to generate a more efficient way to participate in warfare and be the leader in these developments. By lumping two stories together in an analysis, it is inevitable for traits to be observed in the chosen texts. Dewey in his analysis of Cat’s Cradle described Dr. Hoenikker as a â€Å"man-child curiously unfamiliar with concepts such as sin and God† (57). He then identified in the doctor a â€Å"moral mutation who believes with Faustian pride that humanity can manipulate, dominate, even annihilate nature† (57). When the Russians and the Americans in Dr. Strangelove developed their own military hardware in order to upstage the enemy and scare them into submission they demonstrated the characteristics of this mutation. Because of the belief that man can dominate nature, these weapons were made to possess qualities that rivalled the greatest strength of the natural world. Hence, should the enemy ever attack, they could immediately launch a counter-attack and prove their superiority. The will to dominate and annihilate nature is not the only characteristic of this moral mutation. Egocentrism plays a focal point in this mutation, for it fuels the foolishness of the characters and magnifies their ignorance. Dr. Hoenikker announced that he saw himself as a child that allowed curiosity to get the better of him and strove to study anything that caught his interest. All his studies he did for himself and he seemed to have no regard for others: he did not take good care of his wife who turned her back on everything for him; he pulled out Angela from school because he wanted someone to take care of him; and he never considered the effects of his inventions, he saw them only as playthings and never thought of the consequences that will affect the lives of millions of people. Westfahl interprets this as a jab at notion that the scientist can be relieved of responsibility in developing such instruments because he is only interested in science and not in wealth and fame (957). After his death, his children distributed the ice-nine between themselves, as he had neglected to keep such a dangerous substance in an appropriate place. The children used the seed crystal to suit their own wants, provided warring powers with the weapon and caused the apocalypse. General Jack D. Ripper acts as the Dr. Hoenikker of Dr. Strangelove. He allowed a theory that he had formed out of sexual fatigue to dictate his decisions as a general; he was too confident in his analysis of the situation and stubbornly stood by his actions, not bothering to consult with other officials. In the last stages before the explosions, he never checked on how the people around him were doing and only worried of what will become of him should his building be stormed and his enemies come after him. In the end, he chose to save himself rather than face the consequences of his actions. The two texts present the end of the world in a manner of a ticking bomb. The countdown in Cat’s Cradle starts after the reader is made aware that the events presented lead to the unfortunate end. In Dr. Strangelove, the countdown is in the form of time-measure; the length of time it would take for the B-52s to reach their targets thus activating the doomsday device. Looking at the two texts, the direct causes of the end of the world stand on a far distance from the other. Dr. Strangelove’s tension before the cataclysm was between two world powers, and elements that sprout from this tension eventually sprouted the doom. The film’s end was caused by the actions of people and abrupt: showing only scenes of the bomb explosions but none of what happened after. Perhaps this hinted that nothing survived after the event and it was truly the there were no more stories to tell. In Cat’s Cradle, what caused the end was the body of a dictator of a small island which nobody wanted to rule. The narrator believed that this was destined and all that he experienced were pointing to that event and to his destiny after the apocalypse. As he still had something to accomplish after the ice-nine incident, Jonah kept accounts of what had happened up until the point he meets Bokonon face to face. The two texts tackle different viewpoints regarding scientific development and the participation of people in history. The suggestions and portrayals of Cat’s Cradle may not completely coincide with those of Dr. Strangelove’s, but similarities still exist between the two texts. Dewey, Joseph. In a dark time: the apocalyptic temper in the American novel of the nuclear age. Indiana: Purdue University Press. 1990. Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb . Dir. Stanley Kubrick. Perf. Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Sterling Hayden, James Earl Jones. 1964. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 2004. mininova. Cat’s Cradle. 1 June 2009. http://www. mininova. org/tor/1359220 Westfahl, Gary. The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy: themes, works, and wonders. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. 2005.

An essay on man -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"An Essay on Man† by English poet Alexander Pope is a philosophical poem, which was published, in the 18th century during a historical period called the Enlightenment. A huge emphasis was placed on the ability to think and reason during the Enlightenment. People during this era reflected about a variety of topics. Some people concerned themselves with the issue of God, which consequently caused many to question the church. Others were concerned with the organization of the Universe, and man’s place within that Universe. Often times, a literary work can reflect the thoughts and feelings of the society during the period in which it was written. In â€Å"An Essay on Man,† Pope effectively illustrates the major concerns of the people during the Enlightenment when he addresses man’s ability o reason and think for himself, and speculates about man’s place in the world, as part of the â€Å"great chain of being.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The ability to reason was the central focus of the Enlightenment also called â€Å"The Age of Reason.† Pop begins the poem by appealing to the logic and reason of his audience. He writes, Together let us beat this ample field,/ Try to open, what the convert yield†(lines 9-10). Pope encourages his audience to use the reason they have been given to examine those things that they have been advised against. To reason against those things that have been kept hidden to them. He is trying to bring them into the 18th century, asking the...

Application of Honeycomb Sandwich Structures

Sandwich construction by and large consists of 3 parts ; the nucleus stuff that is lightweight and is covered by face sheets from the top and the underside. The stuff of the face sheets are normally made from stuffs that have high stiffness, while the nucleus of the construction is made up of extremely compressive stuff and high shear strength.Even though the constructions are lightweight, they have a high fracture/bending strength and buckling strength. Therefore this allowed the sandwich structures to go an indispensable portion of the modern lightweight building. The composite sandwich constructions are by and large preferable structural signifier because they can be easy constructed by utilizing stuffs that are significantly lower in costs, while they besides have higher bending stiffness, while keeping the same sum of fibre reinforced polymer stuffs being used. The nucleus is the portion that is responsible for the separating and repairing the shins, while besides defying cross shear, screening and radiation, absorb impact energy, and insulate heat transportation. The bonding of the faces to the nucleus, is to obtain a burden transportation between all the constituents. Polymeric cores that have higher denseness besides have higher shear and compaction strengths, but this besides makes them heavier hence a via media has to be reached between keeping low weight and high public presentation. The faces of the sandwich construction should hold high stiffness that will therefore five high flexural rigidness, a high compressive strength and high tensile strength, should be impact immune, good surface coating, and eventually it should besides be wear and environmental opposition so it does non respond with the surrounding. The usage of â€Å"sandwiching† , we are able to dramatically increase the strength and flexural rigidness, if we are to compare it to a individual tegument construction while non adding much weight. General demands of the construction:In order for the home bases to defy the compressive, tensile and shear emphasiss that are induced by the design burden, they should be thick plenty.The nucleus should hold more than adequate strength in order for it to defy the shear emphasiss that are being induced by the tonss, while besides the adhesive must besides hold sufficient strength, so it can be able to transport the shear emphasis into the nucleus.The nucleus should besides be thick plenty and have enough shear modulus to be able to forestall the overall buckling of the sandwich under tonss, and to besides forestall crimping ( the procedure where two pieces of metal or ductile stuff are joined by the distortion of one or both of them to keep one another )The nucleus cells should be little plenty in order to forestall dimpling ( pregnant chads are the little indentures or depressions that appear on the surface of a organic structure ) under burden.The nucleus must hold adequate compress ive strength that will assist it defy the suppression by the designed tonss that act normal to the panel facings, or by the compressive emphasiss that are induced through flection. The overall construction must hold sufficient shear and flexural rigidness to be able to avoid the inordinate warps under the designed burden.Dame that occurs in sandwich complexs, is a instead complex phenomena that is due to the legion failure mechanism.The honeycomb constructions are either natural constructions formed such as from bees, or semisynthetic constructions that use the geometry of the honeycomb in order to let the minimisation of the measure of stuffs that is being used in order to assist make a minimal weight while besides holding minimal stuff costs. The honeycomb structure’s geometry can differ immensely, but the most common characteristic of all of the constructions is the scope of hollow cells that are formed between the thin perpendicular walls. Normally the cell forms are eith er hexangular or columnar. The honeycomb like construction offers a stuff that has really small denseness and comparatively high compaction and shear belongingss. The stuffs of the semisynthetic honeycomb structural stuffs are often made by puting the honeycomb stuff between the two thin beds that provide the strength when there is tenseness. A plate-like assembly signifiers. The honeycomb stuffs are immensely used where a marginally curved or level surfaces are required and their high weight to strength ratio is valued. They are to a great extent used in the aerospace industry chiefly for this ground, while some stuffs such as advanced composite stuffs and fibreglass have been included in projectiles and aircrafts for over 50 old ages now. Honeycomb sandwich constructions can be found in several other applications, such as from something every bit basic as packaging stuffs utilizing paper-based honeycomb ( composition board ) , to athleticss merchandises such as snowboards and skis. Honeycomb sandwich constructions are industry by utilizing a broad assortment of different stuffs that depend on the application intended and the features that are required. Honeycomb nucleuss such as paper/cardboard and thermoplastics, used for low stiffness and low strength for low application tonss, to high stiffness and high strength for applications that require high public presentations, the nucleuss used in such instances are from fibre reinforced plastics or aluminium. Harmonizing to the size of the panel, the denseness or sum of the honeycomb cells that are within it, and the facing stuff the strength of sandwich panels are used. The honeycomb complexs are immensely used in assorted industries, from the automotive and aerospace industries, to furniture and wadding industries. The construction is named â€Å"honeycomb† due to the ocular resemblance to a bee’s honeycomb Honeycomb nucleuss are used in a broad assortment of applications such as ; Marine vass, aerospace applications, walls, doors, ceilings, warming and air conditioning units, in mensurating the energy loss of sound extension in media, lifts, in the directional systems of air, visible radiation and H2O, and eventually in bathroom and kitchen dividers. They are besides used in applications such as in the devising of human body of the modern type of expression one autos. In the expression one autos the honeycomb is sandwich in between two C shins that will make a really stiff and strong construction, which will therefore supply the protection to the driver if he is to hold a unsafe clang. Advantages of honeycomb sandwich over other conventional stuffs:It has really low weight therefore makes it easier to work withLastingnessHigh stiffnessSaves cost in productionIt requires really small careAdvantages of honeycomb sandwich constructions:Without dramatically increasing the weight, elevated degrees of strength and stiffness can be reachedThe sandwich building besides could move as either a thermic dielectric or a thermic transportations, this procedure depends on the stuff that is traveling to be used.Besides the moistening of noise and quiver occurs due to the nucleus stuff.Relatively light stuffs could be used.A huge array of stuffs such as C, paper, aluminium etc. could be used.The nucleus has a high strength to burden ratio while besides holding an first-class compaction strength.A disadvantage of the honeycomb nucleus is that some of the stuffs are expensive, while other stuffs are caustic depending on the stuff that is being used. Different types of nucleus stuffs that are used are:Nomex honeycombVinyl sheet frothBalsa woodPolyurethane sheet frothAluminumPaper/cardboard nucleusNomex honeycomb: is flame and fire resistant, has good impact opposition, is flexible, and lightweight. The Nomex honeycomb is chiefly used in the aerospace industry for the structural applications, due to it offering the best strength to burden ratio of nucleus stuffs. This peculiar type of honeycomb is an aerospace class fibre that is coated by phenol. Due to the cell structures being over expanded, it allows it to obtain more flexibleness, which hence besides makes it the most suitably applied in tight radius curves. Vinyl sheet froth: is one of the most adaptably used nucleus stuffs in the market. It is a closed cell, stiff stuff that is immune to thin acids, hydrocarbons, base, sea H2O, Diesel oil, methyl intoxicant, gasolene, and it besides able to self-extinguish its ego. It is presently being used on a large graduated table in the aircraft industry and the public presentation automotive constructions industry every bit good. It can be applied anyplace, such as topographic points that require high belongingss and easy handling. The froth is typically thermoformed in an oven or utilizing a heat gun while force per unit area is gently applied. If ultimate if it is desired to make the ultimate Peel strength a perforation roller is used in order to increase the surface country of the froth, which leads up to the addition of the Peel strength an excess 15 to 20 % . The vinyl sheet froth is really good appreciated due to it holding superior structural and mechanical belongingss. They are besides re ally easy handled in treating such as thermoforming, cutting, and determining. They are besides used in the procedure of rapid majority edifice, or in the bonding of single sheets that will supply the extra thickness that is needed in mark countries. It is besides H2O immune and insulative. Polyurethane sheet froth: It is stiff, with first-class floatation and thermic insularity belongingss, while it is besides closed cell. Some of the grounds as to why the Marine industry has been utilizing the froth extensively for the last few decennaries are that: -it is non really expensive when a lower belongings cored laminate is required. -The sheets are besides available in a broad assortment of thicknesses and are besides stiff. -The closed cell construction, allows it to defy the soaking up of H2O, gasolene, and oil.The froth demands to be stored off from sunlight in order to avoid debasement. It can besides defy temperatures that range from 60 F up to 300F. Balsa wood nucleus: This is the most used type of wood nucleus. It was specifically used in in the Marine industry, normally used for boat hulls and decks. One of the chief grounds as to why balsa is used, is because it is a natural merchandise, and could provide the market demand invariably due the balsa tree’s speedy growing rate. Some other advantages include its low cost, it is a light stuff yet being really strong. Some disadvantages include, – the possibility of being damaged by H2O, because it rots when it gets wet. – when we compare it to a solid fibre glass stuff it is more expensive, hence the fibre glass is by and large used as the alternate stuff to the balsa wood nucleus in the Marine industry. Aluminum honeycomb nucleus: The aluminium honeycomb construction provides the maximal stiffness that could be obtained and is the stuff that has one of the greatest strength to burden ratios, when compared to the other available structural nucleus stuffs. A chemical transition surfacing to protect the foil from corrosion is used after the foil is good cleaned. If maximal protection from corrosion is wanted, Alcore’s proprietary PAA coating is used in order to protect it from really rough environments. Some of the aluminium honeycomb belongingss include: -its first-class strength to burden ratio. –its ability to defy corrosion. –its ability to execute in elevated temperatures. –resistant to fungus and fire. –easily formed and machined. –does non absorb wet. –high thermic conduction. –withstands up to 350F. –has high stiffness. –super level surface. –it is a sound and thermic dielectric. –absorbs quiver. –it can be recycled . –easily fabricated and installed. –convenient in care. The applications where aluminium honeycomb nucleus could be used in include: Marine vass, doors, walls, ceilings, warming and air conditioning units, in mensurating the energy loss of sound extension in media, air and visible radiation and H2O directional systems, lifts, and eventually in bathrooms and kitchen dividers. Paper/cardboard honeycomb nucleus: Is normally used in the fabrication of panels in the trappings industry and is by and large used in the interior doors in the edifice sector.Some of the applications where the paper nucleus is used include: advertisement shows, it is used in the devising of carton palettes, used in the devising of container palette, automotive parts, trade carnival bases and packaging stuffs. It is a comparatively light and strong stuff, and its concentration and strength are due to the about perfect hexangular form that its cells make, which hence makes it highly immune to compaction, and is applicable in a broad assortment of instances. Properties of the paper honeycomb nucleus include: it is a 100 % reclaimable stuff, has high force per unit area strength, environment friendly, due to its great strength to burden ratio it is an first-class nucleus stuff that is able to be used for most applications, it is easy to utilize, really cost effectual, it is adaptable to huge utilizations in the uninterru pted production procedure, it gives a smooth surface with the stuffs that are confronting it, it is used in either cold or hot pressure, can be easy stored, has smaller weight, due to it being a 100 % reclaimable it produces no waste, and eventually it is a good noise and heat dielectric. Thevaluesof thermic insularity are relatively good and they depend on the denseness of the nucleus and specific building. In some instances, the thermal demands determine the thickness of the panel that is needed. By make fulling the cells with other stuffs such as loose insularity or froths so we can farther better the insularity values of the honeycomb. The distortion of the panels due to the different thermal and wet conditions was discovered to be about equal to the same order of as that of the panels that are made of plyboard which is glued to the wood frames while being insulated and have emphasiss moving on its faces. When the fire opposition of the honeycomb panels are compared to the about hollow panels with similar facings, it is significantly higher. While to farther increase the fire opposition, the cells are filled with foamed rosin. To the shapers of the merchandises such as furniture and doors the advantages of the sandwich building to them is clearly seeable and favourable. When builders and designers are interested in new edifice stuffs, the chief factors that are inquired are the strength of the stuff, opposition to fire, and the sum of thermic insularity that the honeycomb nucleus affords, how practical it is to utilize the sandwich buildings in edifices, and eventually the convenient beginnings of the sandwich panels. To bring forth the wavy or corrugated type of the honeycomb, the channel or cell is made by organizing the paper in between the grooved axial rotations on the equipment that is used in the procedure of bring forthing the corrugated container board. The advantages and disadvantages that are unnatural to the building differs from each type of nucleus. This difference lies in many factors such as, the equipment that is needed for the production procedure, the restrictions in adhesives and rosins, strength of stuff, the changing trouble of accurate film editing, easiness of transportation, the thermic insularity belongingss, and many other factors. When the rosin and basal stuff intervention are mentioned, such jobs as the rosin, fibre, lastingness, and wet strength are significantly common to all types of nucleuss. By utilizing paper that is lighter in weight, we are able to cut down the cost of the initial stuff every bit good as cut downing the saturating rosin needed to make the construction based on a given volume. The thermic insularity values of a honeycomb nucleus depended on the type of building and its denseness. Filling the cells with foamed-in-place rosin or with fill stuffs resulted in some betterment in the thermic insularity value. The lowest value obtained compared favourably with that of common mineral-wool merchandises. Paper honeycomb assemblies in one signifier or another are going more and more of import as nucleus stuffs in sandwich-type edifice panels. Light, strong, and stiff panels can be produced by adhering facings plyboard, chipboard, aluminium, or other sheet stuff to such lightweight nucleus stuffs. Research work on sandwich building has been carried on at the Forest Products Laboratory for over 20 old ages. The early work was devoted to the development of high-strength, lightweight sandwich stuffs suited for aircraft application, and the finding of their technology belongingss. After World War II, because of the increasing demand for edifice stuffs, the rules learned in probes of aircraft stuffs were modified to bring forth panels suited for edifice intents. For such applications, thermic insularity and lastingness became more of import and strength demands possibly lessened. It was evident early in the work on paper honeycomb nucleuss that, if they were to be used in panels where any great grade of thermic insularity was needed, it would be desirable to make full the cells of the honeycomb. In 1944, a few exploratory efforts were made to make full the cells of the honeycomb, and a phenolic rosin was successfully foamed into the honeycomb constructions. Cores were forced into blocks of balsa wood with small trouble. These few experiments indicated the possibility of make fulling the air infinites of the honeycomb construction when improved ‘ insularity belongingss are needed. To utilize sandwich building in edifices erected in cold northern climes, it appears to be necessary to make full the cells to obtain insularity belongingss equivalent to those of conventional insulated building. In some instances, increasing the thickness of the nucleus stuff between the facings may be the most economical manner of bettering insularity belongingss ; in other instances it may non be practical. When sandwich building was foremost considered for constructing stuff in dividers and doors, its ability to absorb or convey sound was frequently questioned. Most of these panels would hold really small built-in sound absorbing belongingss because of the hard-surfaced facings and the low mass of the panels. These belongingss might be improved, nevertheless, by agencies of perforations in one of the open faces or by particular nucleus buildings. Paper can be converted to honeycomb nucleus in a figure of different ways. The expanded type is made by interspacing sheets of treated paper with parallel and uniformly spaced strips of adhesive and spread outing the assembly, after adhering, to organize a nucleus with hexangular cell subdivisions ( fig. 1, top ) . Another type is made by looping and adhering sheets of resin-treated paper to organize round cells stand foring a â€Å" figure 8 † in cross subdivision ( fig. 1, underside ) . From assemblies of sheets of corrugated paper, a figure of different nucleus buildings are besides possible, some easier than others to manufacture. Eight of such buildings are shown in figure 2. Most of the experiments reported herein were made with the corrugated nucleus.

Do You Feel any Sympathy for Januarie? Essay

All humans are flawed and without these flaws we wouldn’t be human. Contrary to common assumption Januarie is not merely a two-dimensional character used as a didactic device to demonstrate the importance of spiritual wealth and the innate immorality of the female species. Januarie is a multi-facetted character that like all humanity is imperfect. Januarie’s shortcomings create a level of affinity between him and the reader, as a modern reader it is easy to relate to Januarie and sympathise with him, moreover the fact that Januarie seems to learn very little from his mistakes creates a comic affinity between him and the reader, Januarie embodies the view that ignorance is bliss. Januarie’s pursuit of a wife and consequent marriage to Maye can be interpreted as a confession; an admission that in the end physical satisfaction cannot bridge a spiritual chasm â€Å"And folwed ay his bodily delyt, On women, ther as was his appetyt, As doon thise fooles that been seculeer†. Throughout the Merchant’s Tale circumlocution is used to argue the case for a ‘wholesome’ marital lifestyle as opposed to a ‘sinful’ hedonistic lifestyle, the reader is so engaged by the merchant’s convolutions that the obvious bypasses us. Januarie is the man who could have anything and everything, anything on a material level that is. One might question whether potentially an individual apparently contented with his lifestyle could turn around and willingly sacrifice it. Januarie, in spite of his intellectual limitations, has clearly put his life on the balance and assessed what really matters, Januarie chooses his God over everything else â€Å"And for to lyve under that hooly boond†. Moreover throughout the tale Januarie is openly telling us of the loneliness he feels â€Å"He lyveth helpless and al desolat†, if one was to read between the lines it is apparent that Januarie feels desolated and forlorn, the feeling of true appreciation cannot be bought with any currency. Januarie is becoming painfully self-conscious and it is beginning recognize that no amount of friends or sexual partners can counterweight spiritual emptiness. Credit must be given were it’s due and Januarie’s marriage to Maye was a turning of a new leaf for him, it marked the opening of a new chapter in his life. Certainly, it might be argued that Januarie’s true motives for marriage are not completely reputable. Januarie wants to marry for three main reasons; to birth an heir; for permitted sexual intercourse; and for a place in heaven. However the counter-argument to that is that Januarie only desires the afore-mentioned because society has set the dictate. Society dictates what is correct, it also dictates what is needed and this results in a move towards social conformity. Therefore it can be read that Januarie is a victim of medieval society. Januarie is clearly insecure and self-doubting or else he wouldn’t have renounced his epicurean life â€Å"QUOTE†. As a reader, sympathy can be felt for an individual forced to abandon a lifestyle he is supposedly happy with, Januarie has been indoctrinated by t he social order. From a modern perspective Januarie leads a completely acceptable and feasible lifestyle, and it is social pressures that have pushed him into marriage. Sympathy might also be felt because Januarie is the victim of his own stupidity, he has also brainwashed himself that he ‘needs’ a wife â€Å"QUOTE†, Januarie has persuaded himself. It cannot be forgotten that Januarie does show signs of decency and goodness during the course of the tale. He practices ‘gentillesse’ in his treatment of Damyan, when he finds out of Damyan’s â€Å"siknesse† we see a new dimension of Januarie â€Å"That me forthynketh† Januarie even goes as far as too insist on him and Maye paying a visiting him as soon as possible â€Å"To doon hym al the confort that I kan†, we see a virtuous aspect of Januarie’s personality. It is proleptically ironic that this â€Å"Gentil squire† Damyan that Januarie even quite unwittingly acclaims as â€Å"wys, discreet, and as secree As any man† will cuckold him. Januarie talks of no dowry from Maye’s family and is really saving her and her children from a lifestyle. Maye’s treatment of Januarie towards the end of the tale also elicits sympathy from the reader, even more because throughout tale we are constantly reminded of the incongruity of the couple’s ages â€Å"Whan tendre youthe hath wedded stoupyng age†, it is inevitable that as a modern audience we sympathise with a blind old man rather than a young nubile girl who is â€Å"mannyssh wood†. The one man who has pulled her out of the slum life she once lived, and catapulted her into a lifestyle so far taken from her own is being used as little more than a footstool, an object used to achieve sexual gratification from Damyan, we see the squalid, animalistic nature of humans. We see that Maye is ultimately no better than the old Januarie. Januarie is obviously happy in his new life because he refuses to see a lie when it stares him in the face in the form of May and Damyen up the tree.