The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthornen the Inside

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Protagonists are like the tricksters of the jungle, the margays. Margays imitate baby monkeys, tinamous and agoutis. Then when the adults of the species go to investigate the cries, they are attacked by the margay. Protagonists may not devour their prey, but they are cunning and deceptive. On the outside they look like the hero of the story, but on the inside they are evil. This was supported by the books of prose, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter took place before The Crucible, but in both of the settings the townspeople were religious worry warts who blamed witchcraft (a sin) for the their troubles. Both were Puritanical societies, meaning that enforcement of the laws was very strict, as sinning was generally taken very seriously back then. One sin that was found in both books was that of adultery. Adultery can be defined as essentially a sexual relationship between a married person and someone who is not their spouse. Adultery leads into the focus of this paper. John Proctor and Hester Prynne (the protagonists of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter respectively) were bad influences because they were protagonists.
John Proctor was the protagonist of the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller. As a general rule, a protagonist fights the antagonist. He was the protagonist because he refused the advances of antagonist Abigail Williams, then accused her of criminal activity. Abigail confronted John in hopes of convincing him to be with her (sexually) once more. In response to her pleadings, John replied, “No, no, Abby. That’s done with” (Miller 14). Already he was denying a sweet girl what she desired. It’s possible that he deceived her from the beginning of their r...

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...n better off.
John Proctor and Hester Prynne (the protagonists of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter respectively) were bad influences because they were protagonists. Both are tricky and deceptive like the margay. They were merely concerned about their own well being and are poor imitations of what should be good. Protagonists appear to be heros of the story, but turn out to be evil on the inside.

Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Pocket, 2004. Print.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2005. Print.

Works Referenced
60 Second Recap, prod. "60 Second Recap the Crucible." 60 Second Recap. Recap Media, 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <.>.
- - -, prod. "60 Second Recap the Scarlet Letter." 60 Second Recap. Recap Media, 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. .

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