As Samuel Butler said, “The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance.” Our society is changing rapidly due to vanity, a study from the University of Florida shows that 65% of teenagers these days act out of vanity more rapidly than they would honesty. Many people often find themselves caught up in the day-to-day situations that involve oneself confidence and the opinion of others. Frequently, we must make decisions out of either integrity or vanity.
Furthermore, in The Crucible, John Proctor is asking God “What is John Proctor, What is John Proctor?” In a sense, this is a form of vanity considering John is asking God whether he should confess, he does not want other people to see him as an evil fraud. John is worried about
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his reputation and how others portray him instead of being true to himself, as you can see this ties back to the main theme of vanity. Another key quote could be, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him.” In this statement, Hale wants Proctor to confess, so that he doesn’t have to live in pride and vanity but to bale to die pure. He believes Proctor should die wholeheartedly rather than to live a lie. Proctor is not an evildoer, he is simply an individual that is in deep need of absolution so that he may become pure. With today's culture, it seems like we value others’ opinions higher than our own.
Vanity can be described as covetous and envious. Regularly, I see the skeptical side of a person more than the forthright side of a person. For instance, lots of people at Foster High School have little self-confidence and are only worried about different ways to impress their peers or draw attention toward themselves in order to feel as if they fit in with the rest of their peers. People with internal conflicts as these often lie and cover up certain aspects of their lives. Personally, I have witnessed this within my own family. Many of my family members express this through something I call a “status symbol” meaning they want to be so much everyone else. They would go and buy a Mercedes-Benz, just to show they can be like everybody else, even though they are struggling with the monthly payments. Even more, if we would go back to middle school you would see kids in neon clothes, high socks, and snapback. Now, however, teens are so wrapped up in their friends they need all the new name brand clothes, such as Polo, True Religion, and Nike. As you can see, today's culture influences vanity because people are changing over time to fit
in. In closing, people tend to act out of vanity for gratification of others. Studies show more teens would rather lie to be approved by others than to be honest with themselves. With today's society changing at a constant rate, who knows what will be the next thing people act for.
Pride in itself, can be seen as a positive attribute, however, when it is expressed as arrogance it becomes a fatal flaw that leads to one’s downfall. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, John Proctor allows his excessive pride to get in the way of his decisions. John Proctor would rather die honest than live a lie. In order not to tarnish his good name, John makes the corrupt decision of being hanged. Although this act can be seen as noble, it is ultimately foolish because he allows his excessive pride to put him to death. John's corrupt decision to be hanged to save his family’s name and protect his wife was the result of excessive pride.
In the crucible, I believe reputation and respect was interwoven in the term of the play the ‘‘crucible’’. Reputation and Respect can also be a theme or a thematic idea in the play, reputation is very essential in a town where social status is synonymously to ones competence to follow religious rules. Your standing is what enables you to live as one in a community where everyone is bound to rules and inevitable sequential instructions. Many characters for example, john proctor and reverend parris, base their action on the motive to protect their reputation which is only exclusive to them. People like reverend parris saw respect as what made them important or valuable in a town like Salem, this additionally imprinting to his character as a very conventional man.
In the story, “The Crucible”, John Proctor is thought to be a sinful person because he does not know all of the commandments and sometimes plows on Sundays. The author does not reveal this to the readers directly but tells them what others have been saying about him. Readers can also learn that Proctor is quite prideful. His main goal was to save Elizabeth from hanging, but when Danforth gave him a deal that would save Elizabeth he did not take it. Proctor was too proud to take the deal. Also when Proctor confessed to seeing the devil, his pride got in the way from saving his life. He did not want his name to be slandered.
Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,
This statement is true for John Proctor, he judges himself harshly for his sins and is disgusted with himself. John Proctor is a foil to most characters in the play. They are conformists and submissive as a result of the restrictive lifestyle they had to lead.
The Crucible reflects the theme of honor through the people who refused to admit they were witches. Self-worth is shown through the people who refused to say they were witches when they knew they were not. Proctor chose to die rather than lie and confess to something he knew was not true. Elizabeth also did not ask Proctor to lie and confess because she knew it would take the good out of him. Pride has been shown through Proctor. He committed lechery and still had faith in himself and said, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worthy the dust on the feet of them to hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 143). John Proctor decides that he would rather die with pride than lie. In The Crucible pride leads to the downfall of Salem, and the death many people. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Hale all experience the influence of pride. It eventually leads to Reverend Hale loosing his credibility, Elizabeth Proctor loosing her husband and John Proctor loosing his
Cruelty is actions leading to the pain or suffering of others, sometimes intended. Throughout society we use cruelty as our reaction to another’s mistake. Cruelty may also act as the source of these mistakes resulting in social, political and personal motivators to others to be cruel. In the movie, The Crucible cruelty acts as crucial social, political, and personal motivator. The antagonist Abigail Williams utilizes cruelty to hide her past faults. Abigail’s cruelty was stimulated by cruelty from John Proctor, the protagonists. Cruelty reveals more about the victims of her than Abigail herself. Cruelty is a continuous cycle that plays a key role in the movie’s overall message on reputations, power, and guilt.
In the Crucible, we are introduced to the main protagonist John Proctor; the way that Arthur Miller presents him by rebelling against the authority in Salem. Out of the entire town he is the only person that speaks out, realising that the authority is unfair and unjust; he is not like everyone else in the town who keeps quiet to themselves. There are many situations where we the readers can see very clear examples of him rebelling against the authority that controlled Salem. One example of Proctor rebelling against authority in Salem was when he did not go to church on a Sabbath day and instead decided to pray in his own home ‘Mr Proctor, your house is not a church; your theology must tell you that’. That is one clear example of him rebelling
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.
Today, our culture demands us to be perfect, thin, powerful, successful, smart, extraordinary, but when people begin to try achieving them, we start labeling them as narcissists. The problem is that it is impossible for anyone to please everyone. Brown defines narcissism as simply a “fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be lovable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose” (22). Before giving out labels, it is wise to practice asking ourselves questions to clear the intentions and reasons of someone’s behavior. For example, teenagers posting pictures of themselves online to gain some attention reveals that the culture has taught them that they are as lovable as the number of likes and comments they get on social media. Negative feedback roots into negative thinking about vulnerability and causes them to shut themselves down and never show their real selves again. Encouraging others to believe that they are perfect as themselves, will plant a positive attitude in them and push them to pursue their goals and visions to fulfill their dream of a happy
There is not just one definition for a witch hunt. A witch hunt can be looking for and possibly punishing people who are accused of having unpopular opinions. It can also be when a group of people go after another group of people that either have opposing views or are outsiders. Just like in the isolation of HIV/AIDS patients in the 1980’s/1990’s, many people go along with the hysteria of a witch hunt out of fear about something that may or may not be true. These persecutions are often “justified” by those participating in the witch hunt. Whether they blame others to save themselves, or do it out of guilt and greed, they
In every conflict there always seems to be at least one person to blame. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many problems arise that deal with live and death. Many innocent people in this play were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, there are many people that may be blamed. In The Crucible, one may find Abigail Williams, The Putnams, and Mary Warren to blame. Abigail was manipulative, The Putnams were very jealous, and Mary Warren was weak-willed.
During the salem witch trials a lot of people accused each others of being a witch or dealing with the devil most of them lied because they wanted something that person had people accused each other left from right and those who were accused felt to ashamed to lie and admit that they talked to the devil because no one would believe them.
The Crucible is an incredibly influential play no only in the fact that it displays many important themes, but it also portrays how a theocracy impacts societal actions. The Salem witch trials were the culmination of the problems with theocracy. The actions of society, not only are impacted by their personal thoughts, but also in religious undertones affect them. Act two in the play portrays not only all of these themes, but also some important events leading towards the witchcraft hysteria. Act two in the play portrays how theocracy ultimately leads to chaos.
Greed is as rampant in today’s society as it was back in the 1800’s, if not more. Sadly there are many influences on children to impose greed on them. For example Mr. Eugene Krabs of SpongeBob, or Tom Walker from the Devil and Tom Walker or perhaps Thomas Putnam of The Crucible; characters like these should not be allowed to influence kids. They are the definition of absolute greed and with SpongeBob being one of the most popular childhood shows, the creators should be ashamed. From stealing people’s money to killing for property, these men are sure to disgust any parent. Books and shows like this should come with a parental advisory warning or a “viewers’ discretion is advised” label.