How Does Edwards Use Power In The Crucible

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Set in the late 1700s, The Crucible used the Puritan community of Salem as a backdrop to demonstrate greed, betrayal, and the abuse of power. The characters of the play are selfish and often do not care about what destruction they bring upon others lives. There are many themes illustrated with The Crucible, much like the themes shown in, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and The Minister’s Black Veil. The themes from these stories tie together, mostly because they altercate with power and authority in a Puritan community.
In the story, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards, the theme of power and authority is being depicted. By using intense figurative language, Edward tries to persuade his readers to follow God and God’s beliefs. Edwards believes that if you turn away from God or reject him, you will face severe consequences from God himself. Edward wrote, “So that, thus it is that natural Men are held in the Hand of God, over the Pit of Hell; they have deserved the fiery Pit...” (2). What Edward …show more content…

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Minister’s Black Veil, Mr. Hooper’s black veil symbolizes sin and how awful human nature truly is. It may even symbolize a specific sin that Mr. Hooper has. He refuses to take it off for the sake of his reputation. “If it be a sign of mourning,... I, perhaps, like most other mortals, have sorrow dark enough to be typified by a black veil.” (Hawthorne 9). The veil is representing his sin so that he does not have to say it himself. Toward the end of his life, he still refuses to take it off. That is a great example of how the two stories are connected. John Proctor in The Crucible would rather be hung by a thick rope then to have his confession written out and put on the church doors for everyone to see. He has a reputation to maintain and he refuses to let anything ruin it; even if that means that his death is on the other

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