ipl-logo

The Similarities Between The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible

857 Words4 Pages

The Salem Witch Trial era was that of much death and punishment everywhere, not just in Salem. As it says in The Crucible, news of the accusations made its way to neighboring settlements, just as news from other settlements has made its way to Salem. “But the rumor here speaks rebellion in Andover…” (Miller 127). In The Scarlet Letter, the witch trials and witches themselves weren’t as prevalent as in The Crucible, but there were still mentions of said things. Many people were killed or sentenced to life as an outcast due to the ridiculous accusations and the way the Puritans thought. The perceptions that the townspeople of Salem had of the outcasts they deemed unworthy of socializing or being seen with were not very positive. The people refused …show more content…

Some examples of this way of thinking are in The Crucible, when the townspeople decide to hang the witches and when they outcast anyone who admits to witchcraft. This ideology is also shown in The Scarlet Letter when the town and its people sentence Hester to live a life of shame and loneliness due to her sin. They even make her wear a symbol of her sin upon her chest so she won’t forgot what she has done and neither will anyone else. “But the point which drew all eyes… was that Scarlet Letter…” (Hawthorne 51). The people of the town think that by making Hester wear the scarlet letter as a badge of shame, and that by making her live a life of solitude with no one but her daughter to keep her company, that others will learn that what Hester did is a bad thing to do, therefore, hopefully teaching others a lesson that will discourage them from doing the same thing that Hester did. The same thing applies to the hangings of the “witches” in Salem that take place in The Crucible. By hanging the accused and punishing those who admit to witchcraft, the people who run the town hope to use the sinners as an example for others and to stop the things that are happening due to “witches” by striking fear into the townspeople. This ideology of ridding the town of

Show More
Related

Similarities Between The Crucible And 12 Angry Men

112 Words | 1 Pages

The Crucible and 12 Angry Men are both, excellent examples of instances when justice is fragile. One individual’s decision could be life or death in these cases. The only person who knows if they are guilty or not for certain is the suspect, unless there is factual proof. During jury duty, the jurors could just be focused on getting the job done so they can leave and do their evening activities. For the suspect, it was his fate.

Read More

The Crucible Comparative Essay

635 Words | 3 Pages

The Puritans arrived in America in the 16th and 17th centuries hoping create a purified version of the church as they believed the Church of England had still had too many components of catholicism. Humans are also invertly evil and this wickedness is displayed throughout many stories. Finally, moral values are also a central conflict to many stories. Puritanism, the evils of all humans, and moral conflict are a central themes to all three of The Crucible, “Young Goodman Brown”, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”. Although these stories are seemingly unrelated stories on the surface however when considering the under-the-surface meanings of these stories many similarities appear including the impact of Puritanism, the wickedness of all humans, and moral conflict.

Read More

The Similarities Between John Proctor And The Crucible

496 Words | 2 Pages

In the dying girl that no one helped a young woman was murdered while at least 38 people sat and watched. After that people started to share reasons why people didn't want to get involved or questioned about the incident. This incident happened in the 1960s in New York. In the crucible there are a couple of girls dancing in the woods so they could perform a ritual so they could get the guys of their dreams. They lived in Salem where everyone thought they were performing witchcraft.

Read More

Comparing Sin In The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible By Arthur Miller

510 Words | 3 Pages

In both “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, there is an overarching motif of sin and the effects that sin has on the characters and the prose itself. Throughout both pieces of literature, the effects of sin are a large driving force that both progress and enhance the plot. In order to attain a deeper insight of the role of sin in both pieces of literature, it is necessary for the reader to not only look at the sins of the characters, but also look at the background and context of both prose, the treatment of the characters due to their sins, and the overall character development throughout the story. While the focal point of this essay will be to compare and contrast the role of sin in both prose, it is necessary to first look at the backgrounds and

Read More

Comparing Justice In The Crucible And Twelve Angry Men

1031 Words | 5 Pages

In both The Crucible and Twelve Angry Men the theme of fragility of justice is shown. Fair justice does not exist, when your life is put on the line because of accusations or because of your supposed actions, your faith is not decided by you, but by the decisions of others. Fragility of justice is the most evident theme in The Crucible and Twelve angry men because the faith of others is decided solely by a jury, with no consent to the accused. In the crucible fragility of justice is showed when Abigail Williams starts accusing people of being associated with the devil.

Read More

Stonewall Rebellion Research Paper

545 Words | 3 Pages

Like being gay, being a witch was considered a major crime. People thought that if you were a witch you were unholy and you needed to be saved by Christ. People still had the same sort of problem in the rebellion. The stonewall and the Human Rights Society for human rights was shut down by the police. In salem if you did not confess to being a witch you were shut down also by execution.

Read More

How Are The Crucible And Mccarthyism Similar

716 Words | 3 Pages

But when their accusers were prompted to provide proof of the witchcraft, they could not deliver any viable proof. For instance, in The Crucible, Abigail accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch but instead of admitting that she had no proof, just envy and jealousy, she created “proof” by sticking herself in the stomach with a needle that was claimed to be pushed into a poppet by Elizabeth in order to hurt Abigail (Miller 1201). That is just one of many things that shows the comparison with the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Everybody in The Crucible accused Tituba, a black woman in the play, of being a witch just because she was black and not like everyone else. That could not be solid evidence as to whether or not she is a witch.

Read More

The Crucible And Scarlet Letter Essay

1816 Words | 8 Pages

The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two stories that are based on mass hysteria and public shaming. Both stories and their topics are what helped to shape America’s early identity. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held grudges”. This shows that there is mass hysteria in the story based on the quotation and its explain why people have mass hysteria or why they do it. A group of teenage girls is discovered dancing naked in the woods by the town minister.

Read More

Similarities Between The Crucible And The Red Scare

767 Words | 4 Pages

Fear, it causes people to be blinded by the truth. People can’t tell right from wrong. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to show how no one could see what was right. During the 1950’s communism was spreading throughout Europe like a wildfire, then it slowly made its way over to the U.S. This was known as The Red Scare.

Read More

Literary Analysis Essay On The Crucible

630 Words | 3 Pages

Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.

Read More

The Crucible And Mccarthyism Similarities

343 Words | 2 Pages

Almost every kid in school has read a passage or a story, and never really understood the purpose of learning the topic in school. The teachers expect us to do the work, and hopefully understand it, but we never truly understand why we learned such a topic or event. The Crucible is a prime example on what students read in school, or why we’re obligated to read the book. The crucible and McCarthyism have many similarities that many people over look, and don’t realize, and connects more than we perceive. Books like the crucible and McCarthy are historical events, many schools have very few books based on historical events, which is why teachers spend more time on them.

Read More

Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And The Crucible

1391 Words | 6 Pages

James Truslow Adams defines the American Dream as the “dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (The American Dream). An idea sought after by millions of people is the American Dream; they believe there is a reward for hard work and that that reward is happiness and prosperity. The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, and The Crucible are all works, which portray the pursuit and destruction of the American Dream. Jay Gatsby’s American dream was to marry the woman he loved. This is evident throughout the novel; Gatsby is determined to transform his life from dirt to diamonds all to be a suitable man for Daisy.

Read More

How Does Elizabeth Proctor Find Power In The Crucible

703 Words | 3 Pages

Twenty people were executed as a result of the Salem witch trials, a reign of terror that swept up most of the characters in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Salem is a small Puritan town ruled by a theocratic government. The social order of Salem starts with the church leaders and wealthy male land owners and ends with young, unmarried woman and slaves. The church is structured as an earthly representation of biblical law and possesses the power to persecute those outside the holy edicts. Women are subservient to men, cannot own property and are viewed with suspicion in the church.

Read More

Similarities Between The Crucible And Mccarthyism

1035 Words | 5 Pages

In the play, The Crucible, Salem, Massachusetts, along with the United States during McCarthyism, is engulfed with paranoia. Although both situations include different causes, their effects are strikingly similar. For instance, throughout The Crucible, Abigail Williams is being shown repeatedly accusing innocent people of witchcraft. Her actions begin sending the small town into a panic as they throw people into jail and hang them in an effort to try and cleanse the town from any aspect of evil. Similarly, throughout 1950-1954, Joseph McCarthy falsely accused people within the United States Government of being a member of the Communist party.

Read More

Comparing Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: Book And Movie

602 Words | 3 Pages

The majority of the movie version of The Scarlet Letter and the novel version where very similar, but there were several differences between the two. The Scarlet Letter centers around the tale of a young and beautiful women named Hester Prynne, who live in Puritan times. Hester is accused of adultery, a sin according to the bible, and is sentenced to time in prison and public shame. Her partner in the affair, the well-loved Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, hadn 't been revealed. Hester 's husband, Roger Chillingworth, becomes Dimmesdale 's personal doctor.

Read More

More about The Similarities Between The Scarlet Letter And The Crucible

Related Topics

Open Document