“You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs.” In Arthur Millers The Crucible, John Proctor uses these words to defend himself and make the pressing decision to sacrifice his life rather than live with a guilty conscience. He cares more about preserving his name and reputation, dying with honor than having the community believe he was in contact with the devil. As most people would do, if one is accused of a crime they did not commit, it is anticipated that they will protect themselves. Multitudes of scenarios have taken place where one is incriminated yet they are truthfully innocent, such as the Salem witch trials, …show more content…
Long live the army!" Degrading calls and insults were thrown out by a flock of people who had gathered at the ceremony, triggered by the antisemitic press and the writings in La Libre Parole. The similarities between the events of the Dreyfus Affair and those depicted in The Crucible are eerily striking. These accusations caused significant societal division: The Dreyfus Affair divided France into pro-Dreyfus and anti-Dreyfus, otherwise known as Dreyfusards and anti-Dreyfusards. The witch trials conjured fear and suspicion, as in The Crucible, when Abigail freely accused everyone or when Giles was skeptical of his wife: “It discomfits me! Last night - mark this - I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she closed her book and walked out of the house, and suddenly - mark this - I could pray again!” This fear split apart the town of Salem, creating persistent religious divides. Both events involved the separation of the church from the state as well. Another similarity is that both incidents were fueled by prejudice and slanted conceptions. The Dreyfus Affair was motivated by antisemitism, while the witch trials motives were the fear of independent and often single women; Women were commonly seen as the scapegoats for societal
have. People have to choose the outcome they want to be known. Just as in life, literary characters have to choose between two opposite actions and live with the consequences. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor faces a crucible that causes him to question whether he will live or die. Because of his crucible, Proctor feels guilt, hopeless, and satisfaction. First,
Like accusations without any evidence, where most people in Salem are just accusing because of vengeance like Mr. Putnam. Additionally, the Crucible runs on Abigail's empowerment, and how no one can raise a finger at her. Both of these examples serve as motifs of the present day United States. Citizens or immigrants can be accused without any evidence, and then held for an unknown period of time
them to fit each type of writing. It has also taught me how to take my personal situations and form them into different styles of writing. For example, when we worked on our rhetorical analysis essays in class it was easier to learn the lesson simply because of how I was able to implement my ideas into the essay itself. I believe that working this way has it perks. One of those perks I obtained was Courage; I acquired this without it even being mentioned once in class. Some people may disagree but, I
The words “essay” or “writing” are the words that sound like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. The word “reading” falls into that category occasionally when I have to read a book that I’m truly not interested in. Those words are also the very reason I put English 1101 off until second semester of freshman year. The words are not my real enemy though, procrastination is. Beginning in elementary school, reading was my favorite thing to do! Whenever I visit my mother’s house, I’m constantly reminded
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" 'The Crucible' was written in 1952 by the twentieth century American playwright Arthur Miller (1915-.) Miller was born in New York and educated at the University of Michigan where he began to write plays. Most of Miller's plays are set in contemporary America and on the whole offer a realistic portrayal of life and society and the theme of self-realization is re-current e.g. John Proctor in 'The Crucible'. 'The Crucible' was the third play Miller wrote
achieve equality but not self-separation from the rest of American society. This idea of unification without self-separation, illustrates the idea of black nationalism with established the rhetoric for jeremiads. On David Walker One of the most persuasive African American writers of antebellum America, was able to shake the American society with his pamphlet: Appeal to The Colored People of the United States. Walker, A free Negro born in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1796, although enjoyed a little
Teaching and Learning in a Networked Composition Classroom In her essay “Technology and Literacy: A Story about the Perils of Not Paying Attention,” Cynthia L. Selfe notes that “technology is either boring or frightening to most humanists; many teachers of English composition feel it antithetical to their primary concerns and many believe it should not be allowed to take up valuable scholarly time or the attention that could be best put to use in teaching or the study of literacy” (Self 412).
Finding the Characters in The Crucible Sympathetic Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible', portrays the hysteria created in a paranoid society that is pent-up with vengeance and retribution, when 'the balance within a community begins to turn towards greater individual freedom'. When discussing this play we must look at the audience's awareness of the parallels between the period when the play is set and the time when it is written. The initial audience of the 1950's would be aware of the paranoia