Comparing The Crucible And V For Vendetta

1. Both Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, and James McTeigue, the director of V for Vendetta, both convey the idea that 'governments should be afraid of their people'. Both texts express how the governments could control their people; however that control can lead to anarchy. Miller explains how the people ‘were not quite the dedicated folk that arrived on the Mayflower, [as] a vast differentiation had taken place, and in their own time a revolution unseated the royal government… at this moment of power'. Expressing how the people were controlling the government and how they were consumed by the power that they held. McTeigue expresses how the government would initially manipulate the people with how they controlled them, by treating them as lower class and enforcing laws. However, V’s rebellion, starting with blowing up the Old Bailey, caused the government to slowly begin losing control over its people as V conveyed his message and the power slowly shifted as the people

eventually overthrew the government. This is how the idea of the 'governments should be afraid of their people' is conveyed by both Miller and McTeigue to the audience of educated adults.
2.

Both Miller and McTeigue utilise the technique of setting in their texts to express how dark and oppressed both societies were within both texts. Miller sets The Crucible in the place of 'Salem, Massachusetts, in the spring of the year 1962' explaining how 'the people of Salem in 1692 were not quite a dedicated folk'. He also conveys a depressive society during the 1960's due to the witchcraft happening and also the strict rules of either working or praying. McTeigue conveys V for Vendetta in the location of London as being oppressive and always in uniform due to the overpowering governments. Both texts also express how there was patrol in the settings to convey further ideas of the oppressed governments. He also utilises the curfew and patrolling to further convey how much control the government had. The setting is expressed to the adult audience with the conveying of how the government was powerful. Through setting, both Miller and McTeigue express how the government was

corrupt.
3. The author of The Crucible and the director of V for Vendetta utilise the technique of characterisation in their texts to convey the idea of how people are manipulated by power. Both texts convey how possessive power can be and how it affected the people as it controlled their lives. Miller explained this with the contrast between Proctor and Danforth. Proctor was 'a farmer in his middle thirties… a sinner not only against the moral fashion of time, but against his own vision of decent conduct' and Danforth was a 'deputy governor [who was] a grave man in his sixties… with an exact loyalty to his position and his cause'. Both characters were conveyed differently as Proctor always questioned the government with the religion and stood up to his beliefs, while Danforth was consumed by his power and abused it, while believing in the morals of the government only to benefit himself. McTeigue expresses this idea of power controlling people with the characters of V and Chancellor. V was conveyed a terrorist who fought for the freedom of the people, being depicted as a 'hero' as he lead the rebellion against the government, while Chancellor was a manipulative dictator of Britain as he abused his power over the people, provoking the overpower of the government. The characters are conveyed to the adult audience as they slowly acknowledge the impact of the characters. Through characterisation, Miller and McTeigue both express how power manipulated certain characters.
Symbolism is a technique utilised by both Miller and McTeigue in their texts to convey the idea of how the governments manipulated the people. Various symbols are utilised by both the author and director to convey the various ideas expressed throughout both texts. Miller expresses the idea with the symbols of the poppet and the jackets. Poppet represents the witchcraft situation in the 1960's at the time. It also represents how easily someone can be framed as the characters would be accused of different crimes within Salem as the government were persuaded by the power. The Jackets are also utilised to express how they were heavy because of how some people had more money and were treated to more privileged things. McTeigue utilises two main symbols of V's mask and the dominoes. The mask worn by V was utilised to convey how 'an idea can change the world’, with how V was not only a person, but an idea of how the people would rebel against the government who was manipulating them, and try and take over the power of London. The dominoes are utilised to express the domino effect in one of the scenes, which played flashbacks to the past and foreshadowed the future, to express the government and how if one falls they all fall, as V killed off the authority. They both express the idea of how the people were manipulated by the government to the adult audience. Through symbolism, both Miller and McTeigue express the manipulation by the government.
Miller utilises the technique of drama paragraphs and McTeigue utilises camera angles to convey similar the idea of how people reacted to power. These techniques are utilised in both texts to introduce further information as of who was not powerful in the texts. Miller utilises the paragraphs to further express the ideas of the story to further imply the storyline of how different people reacted to power. McTeigue utilised camera angles such as close ups on the government leaders to imply how they were powerful over the people and how they used their authority when they were speaking. The audience develops a better understanding between the two texts and how the techniques were utilised to express how the people were consumed by the power. Through the paragraphs and camera angles, both Miller and McTeigue have expressed their ideas.