The novel The One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey and The Crucible play written by Arthur Miller are both strong texts which represent a lot of important discourses. This essay will compare and contrast both texts by analysing the main discourses relevant to both texts. The One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest was written in 1959 and published in 1962. It is set in a mental institution which investigates the process and the human mind. The novel constantly raises concern for the authorities that control individuals through subtle and forced methods. The Crucible is set in a notional society, in which the church and the community are seen as one and religion is a strict passage which controls one’s life. In the Crucible, there is no room for deviation from social norms, since any individual whose life doesn’t imitate to the established laws, represents a great threat to the public and to the rules of true religion according to god. This Consequently results in great punishment and shame on the culprits identity. Both texts display strong discourses such as disempowerment/empowerment, woman’s status in society and authority. These discourses are portrayed through characters in both texts which will be compared and contrasted throughout this essay.
In the novel The One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Kesey explores the use of mechanical imagery to represent modern society. By means technology, society gains control and overpower individuality and natural compulsions. The hospital consists of the assistants and ‘Nurse Ratched’ who are described by ‘Chief Bromden’ as being made of motley machine parts. In ‘Chief Bromden’s’ dream, when ‘Blastic is disembowelled, rust, not blood, spills out’, reveals that the aids ...
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...e a part of his brain. These operations remove a man’s individuality and freedom. Kesey successfully portrays woman as overpowering and castrating as they as disabling McMurphy from sexual ability. Opposing to this, the Crucible witch trials empower several woman in the play that are previously marginalized in their society. In general, women occupy the lowest of male-dominated Salem and have very few options in life. The woman are brought up to work as servants for the men in the town until they reach of an age which they are then set to be married off and have children. Not only is Abigail so restricted, she also is a slave to John Proctor’s sexual conceptions. He manages to shed her of her innocence when he instigates adultery with her, and he provokes her jealousy when he terminates their affair. Women are portrayed as weak, innocent and selfish in this matter.
Kesey through changing the structure of power in a society showed the similarity between the oppressed and the oppressor. This was a demonstration of the corruption of power, and a push back to the era. It symbolized an era of radical thinking of changing the power structure, but he advocated making all equal. In addition it exemplified the communist views of the era and the oppressive regime of those with absolute control. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest advocates the quest for equality in a time where disparity in power was great.
¨I have known her, sir. I have known her.¨ A crucible is a test or severe trial, and no trial is more severe than that of a man’s soul. The entire story of Salem is ridden with tests of character and the humanity of the citizens as they respond to the mass hysteria created by someone crying witch. Every single character in this play is given a trial through which they must come to achieve their greater purpose, and these trials expose the skeletons in their closets and the blackness of their sins. However, the similar message is presented in different ways by the cinematic portrayal and Miller’s original play. Lies, unsubstantiated accusations, jealousy, and self-righteousness are the main factors fueling the flame of deceit and hatred. John
In the Town of Salem Massachusetts, 1692, a group of adolescents are caught dancing in the forest. Among the adolescents in The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Mary Warren. The girls are horrified that they have been caught dancing, a sinful act, therefore they devise a story to evade punishment: they claim to have been bewitched. The first person who they accuse of witchcraft is a the black maid, Tituba. This results in her jail sentence as well as fearful suspicion throughout the town. Arthur Miller demonstrates the impact of lying as the girls recognise and manipulate their power in the town. Lead by Abigail, they go further, claiming countless others guilty and dooming them to exile. Miller demonstrates that there power is so great that even when Mary attempts to stand against her friends, she is quickly overwhelmed and once again plays along with their trickery. As the girls’ conspiracy continues, controversy arise over their truthfulness; people choose sides often lying themselves to support their side, further altering the lives of all involved.
In conclusion the two texts One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Crucible share many discourse’s and have been evidently discussed above. A major theme in both texts is power and disempowerment this theme effected many of the characters through the plot and situations of the texts. Authority and power and chaos and order contribute significantly into both texts and when discussed more thoroughly it is clear that these two texts are portrayed differently with both Kesey and Miller both using different techniques to position their audience into believing what their storey is portraying.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.
She even claims that John should know her better than to expect such a thing from her. Elizabeth often believes that she has not been a good enough wife to John and that she does not deserve his love, or any love. She confesses, “I counted myself so plain, so poorly made, no honest love could come to me!” (137). Her confession displays humbleness, an admirable trait in any Puritan. All of the young girls in The Crucible exemplify conformity by submitting to Abigail Williams. As the leader of these young girls, Abigail persuaded them to do whatever she said, including accusing people of witchcraft. These accusations led to the deaths of many men and women. Mary Warren is a victim of Abigail’s peer pressure. She eventually admits that everything she claimed was a lie that Abigail made her tell. She explains these lies by saying, “It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits” (107). This confession is her way of saying that they never meant for one small lie to turn into something so huge. Later, Mary agrees to testify against Abigail in court, but, in yet another
The year is 1692 in Salem, a small town in Massachusetts, and the Puritans community is in serious trouble. In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the Puritans community is in the Salem court where John Proctor admits to committing adultery to Abigail Williams who at the time was very young. Abigail Williams is where the court started after she is involved in the case where John Proctor is accused of committing adultery with her. Abigail also lead the girls and their witchcraft accusations in court. Abigail truly believed that John Proctor still had love for her.
Although the individuals’ personal struggles in The Crucible are brought by society, ultimately they affect society as well. Abigail’s personal desires were forbidden in society which brought her struggles, ultimately causing her to lie, and then initiating the witch trials. Mary Warren is unable to keep her personal commitment to John Proctor because of her fear of Abigail and the girls, eventually harming John Proctor. Lastly, John Proctor deals with his guilt over his affair with Abigail, and he confesses in court, but Elizabeth testifies he has not had an affair. All of these personal and social struggles are relevant to our society today because the witch trials are still a very controversial
The Crucible by Arthur Miller "Societies often tend to suppress individual freedom in order to maintain social order" 'Examine the key characters and their beliefs in The Crucible in the light of this statement' A crucible is a vessel in which metals are heated, melted down and purified. The play 'The Crucible', by Arthur Miller shows a community, which ignites and burns with the accusations of witchcraft, mass hysteria and retribution. Set in the small town of Salem Massachusetts in 1692, it explores the struggle of one man with his conscience and his eventual purification. A fictional play based on McCarthyism, a dark chapter in American history.
This reveals that the lies and deceit told throughout the play drive the plot, as characters, such as Elizabeth and John Proctor, in the play are significantly affected by the accusations made against them. This is revealed, as Proctor is too concerned with his reputation to confess his affair with Abigail and end the witch trials. Throughout the play, the imagery of God and the Devil is directly tied in with lies and deceit. The Crucible is set in a Puritan theocratic society, where every citizen is concerned with religious piety and purity.
Many years ago, the culture and atmosphere was amazingly different. The expectations of people and communities are extremely high. During the Puritan times, many laws and regulations existed pertaining to government, religion, and witchcraft. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the one word that best describes the Puritan beliefs and the community structure is strict.
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.
Abigail Williams has a low reputation in the small village, and can be easily accused for witchcraft, yet she finds a way to avoid this.Abigail uses peoples reputation to her advantage, and accuses many others of witchcraft, taking the attention away from her. During the trials How does Abigail Williams and Danforth demonstrate the value of a “good” reputation in a puritan society? How does it relate to McCarthyism? And how did Abigail use it to her advantage? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams, a young girl in a small community, is accused to be a “Witch” after someone claims to have seen her dancing in the woods with the devil. Abigail is extremely significant character to this story, as she lead the small puritan society in Salem to the Salem Witch trials, which later on reveals each character's deepest value: Their Reputation. In this play, someones reputation can cost their lives, since the witch trials started, people with lower reputations are more vulnerable to be accused to be a “Witch”. Abigail, one of the accused victims, finds a way to use the power of reputation to control the outcome of her trial. She is the best example for explaining how reputation is so important.
Abigail says to John that she waits for him – John says that he made