The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon, is a book about an African-American pre-teen named Samuel Childs, who is living in 1960s Chicago. The quote: “Bravery is not the absence of fear. Bravery is acting even though you’re afraid,” can relate to this book. Throughout the book, Sam faces the realization that his childhood is leaving him. So, as an effort to become an adult, Sam feels that he must be brave, even though he is scared of what could happen to him. Sam feels that he needs to protect his girlfriend, Maxie, so he can show her that he is brave and strong. However, Sam’s only motivation is to get Maxie to like him, which is not very mature, thus meaning he is not really an adult yet. When Sam’s father, Mr. Roland Childs, is stabbed in
People have to go through a hard crucible situation when someone point finger at them such as jews. It is kind of like nature of human to think about themselves first and protect themselves, but it takes too much courage for a person to stay with what they believe or accept their fault. Arthur Miller’s story which was played in The Crucible had actually happened in a village when people had to go through a difficult life choice in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. For a guilt/adultery, John Proctor faced a terrible persecution, Rebecca Nurse, a honorable woman in the society, who faced a horrible penalty of death; even though Reverend Parris (minister of the Salem) could have saved all the people if he hadn’t cared about his rising reputation so much. Arthur Miller expresses people’s reactions to turmoil in The Crucible: the title effectively captures the struggles the character have to face.
In Arthur Miller’s dramatic play The Crucible, John Proctor, the protagonist, symbolized truth and justice by displaying honor and pride in his name. The change in balance between those two attributes acted as a catalyst in defining moments of the play. In the beginning, Proctor equally reflected both pride and honor in separate events. However, when forced to make a decision, he chose honor over pride. Ultimately, both his honor and pride pushed him to commit the ultimate sacrifice.
Franklin D. Roosevelt once stated “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” this is extremely apparent in the play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller that depicts the events that took place during the salem witch trials.These events in American history had countless similarities that led to the persecution of many innocent individuals. Arthur Miller effectively demonstrates this concept in his play The Crucible by drawing parallels between the witch trials of the 1690’s and the “The Great Fear” of the 1950’s.
The Crucible, by American author Arthur Miller, is a play about a parochial community stuck in a state of anarchy in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. A religious group known as Puritans lived in Salem at the time believed strongly in being subservient to the bible. A group of girls were caught dancing in the woods, and they would be posthaste to cover up themselves to make them seem immaculate, they started blaming others for their actions. The true innocents, the ones with a good name, end up hanging due to their value of truth. This play was written in 1952 during the period of the “Red Scare”. This is when people who believed or invested in Communism they were treated like being a witch in Salem. In The Crucible, ideas of truth and sacrifice and evil and injustice are displayed throughout.
Fear has always been here and fear will always be here all that we can do is combat it, cover it up. Every member of society is afraid of something weather it be big or weather it be small. The thing that is causing the most fear today are acts of terrorism. It 's the fear of not knowing when an attack may happen or where it may happen, that is the fear of the unknown. This type of fear is similar to the type demonstrated in the crucible, In The Crucible the characters may be accused of witchcraft anywhere at any time. To rid of this fear people need to feel secure and we need to educate them. A good way to educate people on these issues is
In a 1999 lecture, Arthur Miller described the height of McCarthyism as “being trapped inside a perverse work of art, one of those Escher constructs in which it is impossible to know whether a stairway is going up or down” (Clapp 366).” Miller spoke of his play, The Crucible, in that lecture, and the confusion he felt at the hysteria of the time. The history and the play parallel each other so much that it makes them inseparable in analysis. The Crucible, in respect to the McCarthy era, becomes a fun house mirror that distorts yet reveals a truer nature of the source. This kind of reflection appears in the corresponding attitudes, beliefs, and conditions that allow for and breed the hysteria living in late 17th Century Salem, and 1950's America.
When push comes to shove, everyone makes a tough decision, but in the end the decision was either out of fear to protect themselves, or a strategy to gain a designated amount of authority. In today 's society, many of the decisions people make lead to riots in the streets and people getting hurt. Similarly, the Ferguson riot in Missouri years ago, where many civilians were injured because of decisions made by everyone involved. Whether it turned violent because they wanted to prove something or because they feared the police when they showed up. In the story, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the characters also illustrate the fact that it is human nature to defend oneself, to strive to survive despite the harm such actions can cause to
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play full of suspense and suspicion. Many people involved in the Salem witch trials died because of vengeance which is amplified by many groups. Problems arose when people began to choose sides. In the Crucible, the conflicts of the play illustrate the power of a crowd mentality to influence the actions of people.
Fear is mankind’s greatest enemy. It causes ordinary people to do irrational things that someone in the right mind would not do. As stated by former president Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural address, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”’. Fear is something that could end all humanity. It causes humans to turn against each other in order to better themselves. A great example of this is shown throughout “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller when the townspeople have an intense fear the devil, “If she is truly in the Devil’s grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free” (Miller 37). The power of the Devil is blown to great proportions where it influences people’s everyday lives. “The Crucible” was written to teach people the harmful effects of scapegoating and hysteria. Arthur Miller does not want history to repeat itself so we must learn from it and go forward.
The belief in witches had been present in Christian religion since the 14th century. The use of the supernatural as a way to explain the unknown would lead to a ‘witchcraft crave’ that would ripple through Europe, resulting in the execution of tens of thousands, mainly women, who were accused of ‘signing the Devil’s Book’. In this day and age it is difficult to understand why such horrific events took place, however while the fear of witchcraft was infectious at the time, now it is analysed from a much more objective point of view, as Arthur Miller said himself, ‘What terrifies one generation is likely to bring a puzzled smile to the next’(Miller, 1996). The Salem Witch Trials took
Have you ever been in a situation that had only bad endings? A position where, if you tell truth you’ll be punished, and if you lie you’ll still be punished. How would you feel in a situation like that? When we are forced into bad positions or find ourselves in them we tend to take the side that benefits us most. In those times we don’t always think about the right thing because it takes a lot of courage and honesty that many don’t have. Arthur Miller in The Crucible uses courage, weakness and truth to allow the reader to better understand and relate to the characters in the book and the way of their society, during that time. Some examples to show are when John Proctor was tried for his lifeand his name, when Elizabeth Proctor was tested of her truth in the court, and when Giles Coery was pressed to death.
There is no human being in the world who has never experienced a form of fear in their life. Fear comes in many forms, that all result in very disparate consequences. One might fear the outcome of a critical academic test or athletic game. Communities might fear a particular form of government. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, fear was the very power that drove the entire plot. Suspicion of witchcraft engulfed the entire community of Salem. Although nearly the entire community had been invested in the witchcraft trials, at the very center of it all was Abigail Williams. After suspicion of witchcraft was directed towards Abigail, fear inflicted her to divert the criticism. Abigail’s sense of empowerment over other community members of Salem
The Crucible by Arthur Miller can often be misunderstood as just a play written to show the mass hysteria of the 17th century caused by the lack of good judgement made by the puritans. However, Miller was only using the past to show America the path they were following if they continued to persecute communist and also as a warning for the future generations of Americans, through the use of an allegory. If the reader does not see what Miller is trying to accomplish from writing this play then there is a potential danger of repeating the mistakes made by both Salem and the entire country. In order to avoid this it is important for the reader to understand the motivations behind the false accusations made and the unjust court proceedings that
In Arthur Miller’s short play The Crucible, one is swept on a world pool of adventures through the rampant society of the Puritans. As the plot begins to unfold, the reader is able to detect a shift in the society as the fear of witches living amongst the community compounds tensions already formed. Tension can be detected in various occasions throughout the play such as neighbors arguing over one another for land, Abigail’s group of followers foreshadowing her every move and following through with her surplus demands, or even Abigail sparking the commonality of lying about seeing people with the devil. Actions such as the few listed have a common theme woven throughout them, and this theme can be seen carried throughout the rest of the book.