The Crucible Essay On Language And Power

Language as Power
When a person hears the word “power” the first thing that comes to mind is the words “obedience” and “commands.” Power in human society can easily appear as “evil” and not so much as freedom but not neither good nor bad. “Language of power” can not just appear as power but language being stronger than power. People can use language to produce truth and/or gain power over others. Language itself becomes a meaning of power in religious, political, social justice, and scientific. People use language as power by silencing, voicing in a vacuum, speaking as subversion and body languages. Language can be distinguished in the exercise of power.
In The Crucible most character can be noted by their language. Sentences are constructed

very old with many unfamiliar words and phrases. “Yay” and “Nay” The book uses powerful language to express emotional intensity of the characters in conflict with each other and their society.The characters and the community have a nature of religion in The Crucible. Hawthorne has a strong and powerful voice. His uses the language of authority and certainty to make his point. “Postponement now, speaks a floundering on my part.” “While I speak God’s law, I will not crack its voice with whimpering.” He feels the need to come off as resolute. He threatened a lot throughout the book “I shall hang ten thousand that dare to rise against the law.” Dansforth is in position of power, he is slightly interested in participating in the power of court and church and refuses to listen to other views.
The movie Whale Rider is a great example of language as power in a social perspective.

Paikea is the daughter of the chief’s eldest son, but Pai was suppose to be a boy. Her grandfather silenced her grandmother at the hospital when she was born. Pai grandfather does not accept the fact that she is more capable to be a leader than any of the other boys in her community. Pai is the one who founded her grandfather prize possession in the sea. She loves her grandfather deeply and is disapproval hurts her, and he loves her dearly too. A scene in the movie was when her grandfather silenced the audience when Pai was performing because they started laughing at a student who was not taking the play as serious as him and Pai. Throughout the breakdown students can see how much tension there is through the language of the film. Pai was voicing in a vacuum when giving her speech and being very emotional that her grandfather did not show up, but she did not know that he was set out to attend the event. Pai had to fight to be a girl leader where in her environment only men could be. Pai grandfather was a powerful mean. He was very selfish and did not show much emotion. He was disappointed that none of his boy could prove themselves. A scene in the film was when Pai gets into an physical altercation with a boy that was suppose to be one of the leader. Her grandfather catches the two and he realizes that Pai has “beaten” this boy. In their environment this is not good, a girl has beaten a boy, so he is not longer able to be leader. Her grander is very disappointed in her. He makes her say sorry but assumes that she does not mean it. He is silencing her and does not believe she is saying to him. The last scene makes it clear that there is a resolution to the gender issue during that time. Pai grandfather has finally knowledged her as a leader. His body language tells it all at the end. He is staring at his granddaughter with pride. He is pride of the young lady she

is.
In the article The Myth of the Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria purpose is
to prove the cultural stereotypes are damaging and wrong. In the beginning of paragraph 13
Cofer says “Yet I am one of the lucky ones” because she had an education and expects the reader
to see her as a role model. Throughout the article language is used to produce truth. Cofer has
used her life experience to produce truth to connect with society. “I remember the boy who took
me to my first formal dance leaning over to plant a sloppy, over-eager kiss painfully on my
mouth; when I didn’t respond with a sufficient passion, he remarked resentfully ‘I thought you
Latin girls were supposed to mature early”’ (Cofer). This boy just assumed that he could kiss her
because she was a latin women. Cofer has very strong feelings about stereotypes about Latin
women. She uses her language as power to persuade society that this is not what every Latino is
like. "The way our teachers and classmates looked at us… was just a taste of the cultural clash
that awaited us in the real world…"(Cofer). This quote appeals to many readers emotions. Cofer
and her friends feel “hopeless” and “vulgar.” She feels humiliated and harassed. She wraps up
the article with a powerful quote “…life is a constant struggle against the misconceptions
perpetuated by the myth of the Latina” (Cofer 176). The message to take away from this
powerful article stereotyping is an important issue that hurts a lot of people. Cofer is very good at
describing how a Latin Women would feel because she was born, where she was raised, and how
she was treated. Hopefully, there will be change about this concern and issue after reading this
article
In The Crucible, Whale Rider, and The Myth of the Latin Women: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria language is used in the perspective of religious, social, and justice. Language can be used in many ways, but more importantly in producing truth and/or gaining power over others. The three articles are great examples of language as power. Even though they’re completely different stories; they all relate in one thing, which is language as power.