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Personal and academic goals
Personal and academic goals
Short essay on personal goals and acadamic goals
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Even though both of these stories are set in different centuries, Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman and John Proctor from The Crucible are very similar characters. They are both considered the tragic heros within the two texts. Arthur Miller is trying to make the point of the reality that even if your hard working, success is not guaranteed. Throughout these two tragedies, Miller is showing that anyone could face the obstacles people go through to attain success and fortune.
The two characters have close to the same social rank in each of their societies. Willy Loman is an average, middle-aged, American man who struggles to make enough money for himself and his family to live “happily”. He believes in his own “American Dream” that consists of owning a large, successful business. Time was a big factor for Willy to slowly begin to give up. Time has suddenly caught up with him and now he realizes that he is getting too old to achieve his “American Dream”. His boss was superior over him and had total control over his life and future. Willy then lost his job as a New York Salesman. When he was let go, he faced hopelessness and turned to his close neighbor for pity money. Willy starts to see flashbacks of what has happened in his past. He also has
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He is decently respected and honored around town. He is married to a woman named Elizabeth. Proctor cares dearly about his reputation, although there is one fatal flaw. You could call this the tragic flaw of this tragic hero. He is caught cheating on his wife and the thought makes himself sick and dampens his pride. He also gets condemned into the Witchcraft drama that is concerning the town of Salem in 1692. First, his wife was accused of the witchery and was framed by Abigail. John then becomes furiated and tries to end the madness. That’s when he gets himself into the mess. He is accused and instead of running off with Abby, he chooses
Overall, I believe that John Proctor is a good man who did have a slight moment of weakness. Generally, throughout the play, Proctor is seen as a good man whose character also has the right intentions throughout. Even though he had a moment of weakness he tries to make up for what he has done. He is also seen as the character who talks through wisdom and not Puritan and biblical teachings. The main reason I think he is a good man is because he admitted to witchcraft to stop lots of other people in Salem from being hanged. The character of Proctor is seen as good because he was also innocent just like the rest but thought that he should protect the others.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” People tend to behave and deal with life differently according to the situation that they are in. In most cases when a person is in a very blissful and comfortable point of his or her life, they tend to act pleasant towards themselves and other people. This is why it is not fair-minded to judge people when they are in a contented part of their lives. It is during times of trial and suffering where the true soul of a person is revealed and judgment can be made. Readers can see the actions that are made by characters through times of hardship that reveal what they truly are in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Crucible by Arthur Millar.
Despite these good qualities, John Proctor had many flaws as well. Lust was a constant struggle for Proctor in many forms. For instance, when Abigail was working for him and his wife, he lusted after her and committed adultery by having an affair. Afterwards, Proctor was extremely repentant and stopped seeing her. “Abby, you’ll put it out of mind. I’ll not be comin’ for you more” (Miller 21). This essentially lead to his demise because of the affair, Abigail became infatuated over Proctor to the point where she went into the woods with her friends and Tituba and practiced “witchcraft” to kill Proctor’s wife. “You drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife!” (Miller18). When the girls were caught and the whole “witch” hysteria broke out, people were getting accused and executed, including Proctor, who wouldn’t confess to witchcraft and died because of it. If Proctor never lusted after Abigail and had an affair with her in the first place, accusations of “witchcraft” would have never happened and his death. Throughout the book unlike many other characters, Proctor never accepted the girl's story about witchcraft to be true. He on the other hand knew
Not only does he unfortunately fall to desolation, but also his character captures the sympathy and pity from the audience or readers. Proctor's downfall in the play is initiated by a human flaw, which to a great extent qualifies him to be the tragic hero. Although Aristotle's tragic hero would be a character in a high social or political standing, Arthur Miller portrays John Proctor as a common farmer that is honest and living a respectable life in a Puritan town with a wife and three children. However, as the play opens, the audience discovers that Proctor has a significant secret, which was his affair with a young girl named Abigail Williams. Abigail doesn't want to believe that it is over between her and John and tries to kill Elizabeth Proctor by engaging in witchcraft with a few other girls in the town.
According to Terry Otten, “a tragic hero is both weak and strong, innocent and guilty,” indicating that a tragic hero must appeal and remain perceptible to the average, everyday man (3). John Proctor, a man of pride and courage, has a concealed sin that remains hidden from the public eye. Throughout the novel, Proctor connects himself to the main theme of intellectual unjust and hypocrisy by enduring the guilt and sin of adultery that remains inside himself. As he continues to right his wrongs, Proctor begins to face the injustice of his society, and relentlessly stands up to save his wife and the people of Salem from the ignominious reign and consequences of his immoral offense. Some characteristics that allow John Proctor to identify as a
Richard Armitage: That may be true but you have to realize that Proctor is a Hero in the crucible. A tragic hero in fact, meaning that he ended up sacrificing his own life due to a situation that was caused by his mistake. Proctor went into an affair with Abigail who later on framed Elizabeth of witchcraft. Proctor intervened with the case and managed to save her life although he ended up replacing her in the predicament. In addition he sacrificed his life in order to keep his integrity and to protect his honor. Making him a classic tragic hero.
In the Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, Arthur Miller is saying that women are an important part to keeping the family together. Through the actions of Linda and Elizabeth, miller shows us that women are the rock of their families.
It is apparent that Miller focuses his play around the moral struggles of the protagonist, John Proctor. Throughout the play, Proctor has many struggles that he must deal with and look deep into his soul to find the resolution. He undergoes a major survey of his character and it is only this way that he can gain redemption for his sins. By abiding by his own moral code, John Proctor makes many hard decisions that will affect the outcome of the play. Proctor's struggles reflect upon the central message that Miller is communicating through the play.
In Arthur Miller’s two plays the Crucible and the Death of a Salesman, they both following the sort line of the “American Dream.” The Death of a Salesman is about how Willy Loman is a salesperson living in New York with his wife Linda, in the same house for the last twenty-five years. Willy starts having flashbacks which leads him to lose his job. The flashbacks are of him cheating on his wife, how Biff is a football star, and about his brother becoming rich. Linda, Willy’s wife is a devoted and loving wife to him. She sticks up for him when their boys are home and think that he is crazy because of his flashbacks. In the Crucible, it was about how the tragic hero had an affair on his wife and then kicked out the girl. Then series of witchcraft stuff came up they thought but it really didn’t. There was foreshadowing in the beginning of the play about the witchcraft stuff.
The life of Mr. Loman is one of loneliness, and lies. An online source emphasizes about Willy, “Willy convinces himself that he is successful, well- liked, and that his sons are destined for greatness.” Willy’s mind is consumed with being popular, and having material wealth. The results of Willy’s internal problems resulted with his children that could not be stable in any aspect of their lives, his failing marriage, and him struggling throughout all of his adulthood. Edward states (an online source), “Willy spent his life pursuing the wrong dreams for him. The wrong dream slowly possessed his life.” And also states, “Willy appears to have been obsessed with his goal of being known as a great salesman rather than with actually being a great salesman.” Willy is constantly under attack with thoughts of his past, to the point he has such vivid flashbacks that he will openly be talking to him, but thinking is he talking to people of the past. An online source states, “Unable to cope with reality, he entirely abandons it through his vivid fantasies and ultimately through suicide.” Willy is aware of his mistakes, but spends his time looking forward to the ‘perfect’ future he has planned, but never changes his ways to achieve his goals. Mr. and Mrs. Loman realize how different and happy Willy is when he is working outside with his hands. Both characters recognize
Tragedy has been a prevalent theme written into many plays over the past few centuries. Each play portrays a character attempting to overcome overwhelming obstacles to no avail. The protagonists of these tales in the past have primarily been associated with the upper class and high status. However, in Arthur Miller’s works the Crucible and Death of a Salesman the author explores a new form of tragedy within the common man. Miller aptly uses the previous archetype of the tragic hero and alters it to relate to the modern world. Although Miller implements the common man into both the Crucible and Death of a Salesman, the author distinguishes between the characters of Willy Loman and John Proctor though their individual experiences, tragic flaws,
In essence, John Proctor was in fact a tragic hero, he successfully saved the life of his wife and children. His tragic flaw was that he chose lust over his family, which ultimately caused the series of events that occurred. He chose to die rather than to have his name ruined and for his wife to be punished for something that he did. He admitted to himself that he done wrong, and for that, he chose to end his
He was also viewed as a superior leader along with his goodness of moral character. These are two of the traits that represent Proctor as a tragic hero in The Crucible. In act two John Proctor shows his goodness of a character by protecting his wife and fighting against her accusation of witchcraft. He even goes as far as ruining his reputation and admitting to the court of his affair with Abigail Williams. By doing this Proctor is risking the possibility to hang. Throughout act one of the play the readers are given the initiative that John Proctor still has lust feelings towards Abigail Williams every time they encounter each other. He shows goodness and loyalty to his wife by confronting Abigail Williams and proclaims that he no longer feels the way he had for her. In act two John Proctor asks Abigail Williams to admit to the court that she and the other girls are faking. John is expressing his goodness to prevent his wife from hanging. John Proctor is a well respected farmer in Salem, and attends church almost regularly. He holds a superior name in Salem, and with if the affair with Abigail Williams were to be known he would lose his reputation and possibly his life. The town would have never have accused John or Goody Proctor of witchery. The Proctors were considered privileged in Salem, they owned and farmed many acres of land. Also the Proctor’s crops were well which gave him superiority
John Proctor is a good man. He is a puritan, a husband, a citizen, and an all around valuable member of the community. All of this is represented by his name. The name of John Proctor could be considered his most prized possession. It is his most priceless asset. Proctor is very strong-willed and caring. He does not set out with any intentions of hurting anyone. He is a farmer and village commoner who is faced with incredible inner turmoil. He has committed adultery and had absolutely no intentions of joining in the witch trials. After his wife got involved and eventually was set free due to the fact that she was pregnant, he feels that he can't sit back and accept what is happening to the town. John Proctor is a good and noble man and because of this he believes that he can't be hanged and die a martyr when he has this sin blooming over him every waking moment.
Willy Loman’s tragic flow leads him to purse the idea that reputation in society has more relevancies in life than knowledge and education to survive in the business. His grand error of wanting recognition drove him crazy and insane and lead to his tragic death. Willy’s hubris makes him feel extremely proud of what he has, when in reality he has no satisfaction with anything in his life. Willy Loman’s sons did not reach his expectations, as a father but he still continued to brag about Biff and Happy in front of Bernard. Willy Loman caused the reader to empathize with him because before his tragic death he did everything he could for his family. Empathy, Hubris , and Willy Loman’s tragic flow all lead him to his death that distend for him the beginning.