Thursday, October 31, 2019

What it takes to be a superior human being in Confucianism Essay

What it takes to be a superior human being in Confucianism - Essay Example According to Confucius, a superior human being listens to the critique with an evaluative attitude and does not turn a deaf ear to something that does not sound pleasing. Superior human beings search for truth and do what is proper in a particular situation at hand. Superior human beings make unbiased decisions and accordingly, do not have anything to expect from others. This is the reason why they always remain satisfied. â€Å"The superior man wouldn't recommend or promote a person based only on his words, nor would he ignore a man's words because of his behavior†. They do not get involved in controversies against other people and remain calm and quiet. Confucius held the opinion that individual’s inability to perceive and handle the reality is the fundamental cause of social disorder. Quite often, people call one another with wrong names. When things are not called by their proper names, this promotes social disorder. In Confucianism, a superior human being is the one who calls things by their proper names because calling things by incorrect names does not let the language remain consistent with the truth. This keeps the affairs from being carried on to success. When this happens, music and other proprieties can not flourish which in turn makes the punishments awarded improperly. As a result of this, people become troubled and can not work. Thus, a superior human being necessarily calls things by their proper names and makes sure that his speech is carried out appropriately.

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Comparing Political Philosophy Theories Essay Example for Free

Comparing Political Philosophy Theories Essay Respond to the prompt for each of the five ethical theories listed. One section on each chart has been filled in as an example. What is good? (1–2 sentences) Aristotle – Virtue Ethics Mill – Utilitarianism Kant – Deontology Consequentialism Nodding – Care Ethics what would you say is our principal or highest objective by nature? According to Aristotle, it is the attainment of happiness, for it is that alone that we seek for its own sake. Based on Aristotle assertion a woman bearing a child is good. For J.S. Mill, decreasing pain and increasing pleasure is good. However, not all pleasure is the same. Mill argues that intellectual pleasures are superior to bodily pleasures (Mill, Utilitarianism, and Chapter 2).â€Å"Act only on that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.† Basically made poor decisions or ethical decision based on rational thinking.The theory that the value and especially the moral value of an action should be judged by the value of its consequences.The ethics of care is a normative ethical theory; that is, a theory about what makes actions right or wrong. What path or rule do you follow to achieve the good? (1–2 sentences) Aristotle – Virtue EthicsMill – UtilitarianismKant – DeontologyConsequentialismNodding – Care EthicsFor Aristotle, virtue is the way to achieve the good. Moral virtue is a state of character and can only be acquired by habit. In other words, we need to practice being morally virtuous in order to be virtuous. Aristotle describes moral virtue as a mean. We act morally, if we do the right thing, at the right time, â€Å"with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive and in the right way† (Nicomachean Ethics, Book II, 1 and 6; see also Moore and Bruder, 2011, p. 265).Utilitarianism advocates maximizing utilities and moral evaluations of public policies. It helps explain why some people actions are generally wrong and others are generally right and he influenced ethical decisions.The deontology refers to moral obligation. As we made the decisions that life must understand the one right is important even though everyone is tomorrow wrong always do right regardless.I think by taking in consideration the moral value and the actions the standard display when making decisions. Understanding the consequences to see the decision if not follow out a law of land.It is important to love thy neighbor. It sounds a little clichà © its however basically we should live our life each day by exercise the care ethics system. Assumptions or requirements (2–4 sentences) Aristotle – Virtue EthicsMill – UtilitarianismKant – DeontologyConsequentialismNoddings – Care EthicsAristotle) is basing his theory of nationalistic ethical. This belief was pretty good for us as defined by our natural objective.His requirement was basically reducing pain that will actually increase pleasure. In essence making sound decisions based on bodily pleasures.And Kants theory the deontology base is the study of moral obligation. As we are responsible for our actions and doing what right at all times.The first assumption is that after all is said and done, only the results of our actions remain, therefore, the results are what a moral theory should focus on. The second assumption is that we love others as much as we love ourselves. This assumption means that we will act to promote the overall good, so long as that action â€Å"does not hurt others more† (Haines, 2006).First we must display some level of sensitivity to be able to exemplify d esires spirit. We are responsible up in our brains keep a careful one of the actions is careful and must consider the feeling that so that we dont interfere with you making ethical decision. Provide an example of how this ethical theory might work (5 or more sentences) Aristotle – Virtue EthicsMill – UtilitarianismKant – DeontologyConsequentialismNoddings – Care EthicsVirtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. The main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek times. Aristotle was a great believer in virtues and the meaning of virtue to him meant being able to fulfill ones functions The utilitarianism works in determining consideration of right conduct should be useful of his consequences. This spectacle theory is basically based off the fat that is largely possible ability of balance pleasure over pain. This action should take a lot of consideration which the way we made the decision about disciplinary action on people or even animals. It was said that the actions of sacrifice and people or animals is wrong. So drawn my friend coworker on the bus and a heated argument with display that ethics.The deontology is the basis of more action duties. The principle of goodwill is what makes people act for duty, and acting for duty given them action of more value. However the action does not take into consideration the consequences thereof. From the consequentialism also known as the idea of the therapist is less and this chapter we discuss the beauty and friendship as well as pleasure that one should aim towards maximizing on. Lovely decision in my life and ethical way to maintain friendship even though that means sometimes being completely honest with a friend. It is very important that we made the decisions that will be conducive to our morals and ethical background. As a result thats the beauty of the virtual ethic.My best friend comes to me asking for advice. She is having problems in her marriage and just found out she is pregnant. Due to the economic downturn, she may lose her job in the coming months. Her relationship with her husband is strained and is having a serious emotional toll on her. She is considering an abortion. I am the carer and she is the cared-for. I do not consider her unborn child because my friend is the one in immediate pain or peril. I recommend counseling. I also try and gently ask question s to see what options she has and what she has thought about. I do not tell her what I think she should do in this case or what I think is right or wrong. I only ask how I can help her.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Pros And Cons Of Delegating Human Resources Management Essay

Pros And Cons Of Delegating Human Resources Management Essay A line manager is responsible for an employee or a work group who do not have any managerial responsibility. Some of the daily duties that a line manager undertakes are people management, dealing with customers/clients, monitoring work process, measuring operational performance, organising allocation and rotas and monitoring absenteeism. Although line managers play a vital role in bridging the top level management and the lower hierarchical staff on a daily basis, it is seen that most of the line managers, however, may not have formal management education because he/she is generally promoted from within. Due to the daily and frequent contacts between the line managers and the staff to whom he/she is responsible, it has been a more common practice to see the line managers undertaking several human resources responsibilities including recruiting and selection of employee the function otherwise used to be exclusively of the human resource department in the past. This is widely practiced lately mainly because of the fact that the line managers have a better understanding of the job that needs to be carried out in order to match the corporate strategy and operations strategy of the organisation. With the prevailing frequent communication between the line managers and the employees, it also contributes towards increased morale in the employees ensuring a higher productivity and competency of the employees and enhanced focus on customers. Since most of the line managers do not have formal management education, they might not be fully reliant on the managerial tasks that they perform and hence they have drawback in their undertaking of human resources tasks although they have added value to the human resources professionals by allowing them to invest their time on more strategic issues. Pros and Cons of Delegating Human Resources roles to Line Managers Cons Increased speed of decision making Line management responsibility for people issues Local management accountability Potential cost savings Strategic role for central HR/IR Short lines of communication Lack of time to perform HR duties Increase in line managers workload Additional costs of training managers Increase in grievances/tribunal cases Potential for HR/IR to be marginalized People management not considered to be part of the line managers job Pros: Increased speed of decision making: Line management responsibility for people issues Local management accountability Potential cost savings Strategic role for central HR Short lines of communication B. Cons: Lack of time to perform Human Resources duties Increase in line managers workload Additional cost of training line managers Increase in grievance/tribunal case Potential for HR to be marginalised People management not considered to be line managers job The people and performance research carried out for the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) by a team at Bath University (Hutchinson, 2003) found that the line managers played a vital role in terms of implementing and enacting HR policies and practices. They found that where employees feel positive about their relationship with their line managers they are more likely to have higher levels of job satisfaction, commitment and loyalty which are associated with higher levels of performance or discretionary behaviour. Discretionary behaviour is defined as that which goes beyond the requirement of the job to give extra performance which can boost the bottom line. Line managers also play the strongest part in structuring peoples actual experience of doing a job. According to an online survey of 121 organisations, collectively employing almost a quarter of a million people, shows that four in five (80.2%) organisations have devolved responsibilities such as managing flexible working requests and handling grievance and disciplinary procedures to line managers over the past few years. And two in three predict the role of line managers will take on even more HR functions over the next few years. (Williams, 2008) Also, another interesting finding was that the line managers claimed to be satisfied with the HR responsibilities that have been devolved to them and are keen to take on activities that relate explicitly to the development of their team. Most line managers report working closely with their HR counterparts and see the configuration moving towards a partnership. The line managers main concern is that a lack of support from HR during the delivery of the service can detract from the overall effectiveness. They also note that junior level line managers are likely to feel less supported by HR and comment that it is merely their high level position that drives the HR-line partnership in their situations. (Susan Whittaker, 2003). The role of line managers in both public and private organisations has changed quite significantly in recent years. The line managers have been allocated more responsibilities and are accountable not only for budgeting and allocating of resources, but most importantly for people management issues as per Hoogenboorn Brewster (1992.). According to some sources such as Storey (1992: 190), he argues that line managers may well be playing a far more central role in labour management than HR personnel. Whereas another source, Hales (2005) traces the greater involvement of line managers in HR issues to two developments. He argues that the line managers have been taking on the role of a coach , conductor or a leader of a highly motivated team as a result of the spread of Human Resource Management and the adoption of more participative forms of management concerned with securing high performance through commitment rather than control. Human Resource Devolvement has led to line managers acquiring middle management functions and becoming mini-general managers accompanied by the loss of supervisory functions downwards to work teams. It is hence more appropriate for line managers to take responsibility for people development since they operate alongside the people they manage and therefore it is argued that that their reactions are more immediate and appropriate (Whittaker and Marchington, 2003). Initial research indicates some positive support for line manager HR involvement. Hutchinson and Purcell (2003) found that line manager involvement in coaching, guidance and communication positively influences organisational performance. Likewise, a case study of line manager involvement in HR in the NHS by Currie and Proctor (2001) found that line managers are important contributors to strategic change when provided with discretion in implementing HR strategies within their own work groups. Whittaker and Marchington (2003) maintain that line managers increasingly welcome HR responsibilities and are prepared to take them on as they add variation and challenge to their work. Gibb (2003) argues that requiring line managers to be more involved in the HR issues may also lead to a transformation of managers own attitudes towards HR, organisational change and thus a transformation of human relations at work (Gibb, 2003). By increasing line manager involvement in HR, it is argued that better workplace conditions will result as line managers have better understanding than specialists of the type and range of interventions needed. In this pursuit, line managers are assisted by more effective and user-friendly human resource information systems, new technologies and Human Resource call centres, making it possible for line managers to handle some HR work without the assistance of Human Resource Department. It is seen that a speedy resolution of conflicts and lower rate of employee turnover is possible by moving Human Resources responsibilities closer to employees through line managers. Indeed, providing greater authority to line managers and encouraging greater initiative taking may address a long-standing criticism levelled at HR departments; namely a lack of appreciation of the immediacy of the line managers problems (Harris, L, Doughty, D. Kirk, S. (2002). According to Maxwell and Watson (2006), business partnerships between HR specialists and line managers have emerged as the dominant model for Human Resources operations within organisations. Similarly, Ulrich (2005) outlines the role of HR Strategic Partners as working alongside line managers to help them reach their goals by crafting strategies to maximise productivity through alignment of corporate resources to these goals. We can hence understand that devolving HR responsibilities to line managers offers a number of benefits to organisations. A greater freedom to HR specialists to engage with strategic issues is provided enabling them to forge closer relationships with line managers and a partnership model towards managing employees is developed. Similarly, line managers understand and appreciate the complex nature of dealing with the employee issues and become more encouraged and involved in everyday workplace management tasks. However, line managers have pointed various issues concerning HR involvement despite the above mentioned benefits of participating in HR activities. It will obviously increase their workload by getting involved in HR tasks. Increased workload leads to feelings of incompetence among line managers and reluctance to take responsibility for devolved HR activities. Indeed, this has led to feelings amongst some line managers of being dumped upon (Renwick 2003: 265) or pushed upon to take new HR responsibilities (Harris, L, Doughty, D. Kirk, S. (2002):) due to a climate of fear and mistrust driven by HR. The experience and ability of line managers to take responsibility for HR issues may present a major barrier to devolvement. Both Whittaker and Marchington (2003) and Hailey, V.H., Farndale, E. Truss, C. (2005) suggest that line managers skills and competence in HR practices may be limited and a lack of training in this area will undoubtedly affect a line managers overall effectiveness. I ncapability and misunderstanding of HR practices on the part of line managers will prevent the organisation from developing a strong learning culture (McCracken and Wallace, 2000) with McGovern et al. (1997) arguing that a lack of training may lead to inconsistencies in implementing organisational HR policies potentially exposing the organisation to lawsuits and employment tribunals. Their research though, indicates that management development is not a priority for the top management and reliance on the notion of trial-and-error is prevalent in organisations. Furthermore, the failure of organisations to take a long-term developmental view is exposed by a reluctance to set aside a specific budget for training and the belief that management development is the individuals responsibility. Many line managers get under pressure to meet operational targets, and often struggle to fulfil their people management duties. This is partly because they are not equipped with the tools, skills and knowledge they need to be effective. As a result, managers sometimes effectively abdicate responsibility for aspects of people management. A commonly used phrase is thats HRs job often tends to be heard a lot in many companies whether relating to employee development, managing an individuals performance or dealing with absenteeism issues. Recent research involving nearly 3,000 employers by the Work Foundation and the Institute for Employment Studies found that organisations with a comprehensive, structured approach to people management, covering areas such as recruitment, development plans and employee appraisals, perform better than those without, as indicated by higher profits per employee, higher profit margins and ultimately higher productivity. Sometimes its easy to be critical of managers, but often theyre not properly equipped to be effective. Investment in management training requires clearly set-down policies and procedures. There appears to be lack of clear guidance and easily accessible information, its not surprising that many line managers response when an issue arises is either to pick up the phone to HR or to ignore the problem and hope it would goes away or transfer responsibility to someone else. It is interesting but to be fair to line managers, sometimes part of the problem may also lie with the HR department itself. For all the talk about wanting to devolve more responsibility to the line, in practice HR professionals are sometimes reluctant to trust line managers to manage. They are unwilling to give managers the tools and information they need to do the job effectively: after all, knowledge is power, and by being the gatekeepers of all information relating to employees, policies and processes, HR may feel that it has power. This is clearly not in the long-term interests of the HR function. HR teams must realise that if they are to fulfil their potential and be true partners to the business, then they need to trust their managers with the day-today stuff. This doesnt mean being unsupportive but continued support to line managers to assist them with responsibility for the way that people are managed. It does mean defining strategies and policies and then putting in place the frameworks and the systems that enable managers to take accountability for the day-to-day execution but in a controlled, informed and effective way. Line managers must aim to be more accountable whereas HR professionals being more strategic could assist when working together. Better solutions are needed to support key people management processes and its likely that intelligent use of technology is likely to represent at least part of the answer. Technology-based services offer organisations the potential to give much greater support to their line managers, but in a highly cost-effective way. Line managers can be given tools to walk them through common processes, access to comprehensive information about their employees, guidance on how to manage effectively, and prompts when tasks or actions are due all accessed via a single web-based service. In view of the above, making line managers responsible for the delivery of HR can be complex. Line managers may not possess the required skills needed to implement HR initiatives and may feel ill-equipped or insufficiently trained to accept responsibility for day-to-day HR tasks. Devolving HR responsibilities may also represent a lack of appreciation of the workloads, time pressures and overall priorities of line managers threatening the overall standards of HR delivery across the organisation and diminishing the value of HR. It is found that getting line managers involved in HR tasks is a step towards achieving a more strategic, value-added approach to managing employees. Line managers play an important position in the organisational hierarchy and can directly affect the quality of front-line services. It will greatly increase the existing pressures of excess workload and the need to deliver on short-term priorities by devolving line managers with HR responsibilities. It will also mean the requirement of display of a higher level of HR competency by the line managers which calls for the need for high-quality training programmes for line managers to ensure that they feel confident in discharging their new HR responsibilities. Such training may help organisations avoid costly litigation and damage to their public reputation. Therefore, HR professionals must engage with line managers and develop a partnership to bring about a speedier resolution to workplace conflicts by allowing line managers to seek guidance and advice whenever required thereby making line managers more responsible for HR.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury Tales Essay -- English Literature

Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucer's Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer's ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rà ´le in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naà ¯ve and ignorant "Chaucer the pilgrim", the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the pilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the two personas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectual irony. In the Friar's portrait, he is delineated and depicted by riddles of contradictory qualities. Chaucer expertly uses ironic naivetà © to highlight the Friar's lack of moral guilt. When the reader is told that the Friar, "knew the taverns wel in every toun" (l. 240), we can take it to mean that he spends very much time drinking, flirting and socialising in pubs. The Friar is superseded to be a holy man, but we see that he knew the landlords and barmaids much better than the people he has meant to be consoling, praying for and helping out of the vicious circle of poverty. Chaucer the pilgrim explains how impressive the Friar's generous charity is and has respect for the way he marries off young girls with suitable husbands and pays for the ceremony. However, he neglects to mention that the only reason the Friar does this is because he has illegi... ...Of course, Chaucer the pilgrim simply sees this as being elegant and sophisticated. Throughout The General Prologue we see how Chaucer the pilgrim has been swayed and convinced by what the other pilgrims tell him. So much so that he reports qualities that are often the opposite of the true personalities of the characters he is describing. This ambiguity reveals a very clever sort of irony on behalf of the writer - while Chaucer the pilgrim is easily drawn in by their deliberate misrepresentations, it is up to the readers to see how wrong he is and draw their own, more accurate, conclusions. It shows many of the pilgrims to be very different people than those symbolised by the ideal qualities they want others to see. This astute technique is particularly effective in pointing out the hypocrisy and corruption in the Christian Church during Chaucer's time.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Financial Accounting Standards Board Essay

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) are two of the most important bodies of the Accounting/Finance field today. Though both boards work together to develop and enforce financial reporting standards for publicly held organizations, the FASB concentrates on the accounting standards in the United States while the IASB sets its focus on global standards. The rules and standards that are set for individual certified public accountants that practice in the United States are also set by the FASB. By introducing the IASB and FASB into the MSA program, students are able to gain more insight into what businesses are required to report and the progress that the accounting field continues to make. The FASB was established in 1973 after the AICPA had adopted recommendation which were made by the Wheat Committee. The Wheat Committee had recommended that the Accounting Principles Board (APB) be eliminated and that FASB be created. The elimination of the APB and the creation of the FASB meant that the FASB was the board that issued accounting standards. FASB’s structure is as follows: A board of trustees nominated by organizations whose members have special knowledge and interest in financial reporting is selected. The organizations originally chosen to select the trustees were the American Accounting Association; the AICPA; the Financial Executives Institute; the National Association of Accountants (The Naa’s name was later changed to Institute of Management Accountants in 1991), and the Financial Analysts Federation (Schroeder etal, 2011). The FASB’s mission is to create and improve financial accounting standards for the assistance and education of the public. The IASB was established in 2001, after succeeding the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) which was established in 1973. The International Accounting Standards are created by the IASB and are called International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS’s). The main responsibility of the IASB is to create and issue IFRS’s, exposure drafts, and approve interpretations which are developed by the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). These IFRS’s are the equivalent to FASB’s Statements of Financial Accounting Standards. The primary difference between the two sets of standards is, one set of standards are established in the United States and another set of standards are established in another country. The FASB and IASB are currently working to create a uniform set of International Accounting Standards (IAC’s). The two boards started working together to create this uniform set of standards in 2003. The goal of this project is to achieve â€Å"compatibility of identifying common, high-quality solutions† (Schroeder etal, 2011). The reason for the convergence of the two boards is to have a specific set of accounting standards that all countries must follow. The guidelines for the convergence of the two boards are as follows: * Convergence of accounting standards can best be achieved through the development of high-quality, common standards theme * Trying to eliminate differences between two standards that are in need of significant improvement is not the best use of the FASB’s and the IASB’s resources – instead, a new common standard should be developed that improves the financial information reported to investors * Serving the needs of investors means that the boards should seek to converge by replacing weaker standards with stronger standards (Schroeder etal, 2011) The primary standards that are to be converged are six of FASB’s Statements of Financial Concepts (SFAC’s): SFAC No. 1. â€Å"Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises† SFAC No. 2. â€Å"Qualitative Characteristics of Accounting Information† SFAC No. 5. â€Å"Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises† SFAC No. 6. â€Å"Elements of Financial Statements† SFAC No. 7. â€Å"Using Cash Flow Information and Present Value in Accounting Measurements† (Schreoder etal, 2011) Seven of IASB’s Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements are also part of the conversion: 1.  The objective of financial statements 2. Qualitative characteristics of financial statements 3. The elements of financial statements 4. Recognition of the elements of financial statements 5. Measurement of the elements of financial statements 6. Concepts of capital and capital maintenance (Schroeder etal, 2011) The standards mentioned above are the standards that appear to have the most commonality which would seem that there would be fewer obstacles. However; a prevalent variance is the amount of detail which is contained within the two frameworks. While the convergence of the two boards will be difficult, recognizing the commonalities between the frameworks is the first step in making sure the convergence goes through smoothly. Not only is it important to merge the two different sets of standards, but it is also important that the two boards work together to build onto the current set and establish additional standards that organizations are required to follow. The Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) program prepares students for a professional life within the accounting vocation by introducing students to the standards set by the FASB and the IASB. â€Å"The (MSA) provides the breadth of knowledge for the professional accountant. Students master the theory and principles that frame a wide range of problems and issues encountered in the accounting profession† (University of Phoenix, 2011). The students are able to go in depth with the boards and discover how the entire accounting system works. By introducing the functionality of the FASB and the IASB, the students are able to understand the importance of following GAAP. By understanding GAAP and knowing the relationship between those principles and the IASB and FASB, the students will have the knowledge to perform the job and understand why the IASB and FASB set the standards that they do. The IASB and FASB are two very influential boards within the accounting field. The standards that these two boards have established and enforced have paved the way toward a single set of standards between all countries. Having a single set of standards will allow investors to view financial reports for all organizations around the world and know that the information is being reported using the same set of standards. It is important to the future success of any organization that its current and future employees are up to date on all of the rules and regulations that are part of the accounting career. The MSA program allows students the opportunity to gain the knowledge of any current and future rules that the boards have established.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Narrative structure of memento essays

Narrative structure of memento essays Someone trying to find out who killed someone close to them. Lots of possiblites of who it might actually be. Hard to follow as story is shown in different parts, for example the ending might be at the begging of the film, and we are shown how everything links to what happens. Possibly a simple story line but chosen to be viewed in a difficult narrative structure. As the audience would be watching this at the cinema, they have 100% focus on the film so that they can work out whats going on. There is not a lot of action in this film as that tends to distract the viewer and they lose focus on the plot. The film does have a classic narrative structure but is not shown in the usual way of beginning, middle then end, instead it reverses it and it become the end, middle and finally the beggining. This adds to the pleasure of the audience as they have to work out what is going on and they feel success when they work out what is going on. The way the film is shown is exactly how the main character will remember it as he suffers from no short term memory, this makes the audience sympathise with the main character. Also the significant object which is the Polaroids that he takes everywhere with him. This is how the film is shown, it may help to read this from bottom to top as thats how the srotyline actually is. LA, the present. Since the rape and murder of his wife, former insurance investigator Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) has no short-term memory. Having vowed to seek out and kill his wife's murderer whose initials he knows to be "JG" and whose car-registration number he has tattooed on his body, he writes notes and takes Polaroids to remind him how the investigation is progressing. The story unfolds in reverse chron ...