Post your blog over a specific topic/focus from Act I. Blogs need to be original and not a repeat of one that has been posted. One quote should be included.
A Lesson in Empathy Act 1 of The Crucible felt very chaotic at the beginning, with random new characters from the village constantly showing up in Betty's room to see if she's a victim of witchcraft. This came across to me as being very nosy and rude; to me it didn't seem to be any of their business. The worst culprits were the Putnams- they stuck around longer than everyone else and immediately asserted that witchcraft was the cause of the girls' troubles. Mrs. Ann Putnam's first words upon entering were, "It is a marvel. It is surely a stroke of hell upon you." I found myself thinking that the Putnams were simply trying to stir up trouble, since Puritans didn't exactly lead exciting lives anyways. However, I soon learned that Mrs. Putnam had lost seven babies, and later that she sent her daughter Ruth to Tituba in order to communicate with the dead and find out what had caused their deaths. This caused me to empathize more with the Putnams, especially Ann, because losing one child, let alone seven, would be devastating, and in a time where medical research was very limited, I imagine that she as a mother would be willing to find out what had happened by any means possible. This further goes to show the power of witch hunts- people have very real problems they want answers to, and a witch hunt provides a simple explanation that many, such as Ann Putnam, are willing to jump on in order to possibly ease their pain. This was very relevant during the McCarthy era in which The Crucible was written, in which various political dissenters in America were accused of being communist, allied with the greatly feared enemy of the US, the USSR. People during this time channeled their very real fears of nuclear war into a paranoid hatred of anything that could be labeled as even slightly "communist." Arthur Miller draws this comparison with the Puritans, who, despite being unreasonably wary of witchcraft, did have very serious reasons behind that fear.
Act 1 of The Crucible started as a hard read. It began with about 5 pages of background, which was useful, but also very dull. But once I got to the dialogue, I was able to read through it quite quickly and began enjoying it. Molly addressed one of my problems with Act 1, which was the hecticness. There were many characters per scene, and I had trouble keeping track of who was who, especially since a majority of the characters had similar first and/or last names. I was also constantly wondering how all of these characters got into Parris’s house. Was it a normal occurrence for people to march into other people’s homes uninvited? However, once I put those thoughts on the back burner, I was fully able to invest my attention on the story. Something I thought was interesting was the word choice Miller used at the end of the act when Abigail and Betty were calling out the names of people they accused of being witches. On page 45, Abigail says “I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil! It is rising to a great glee”. And then on page 46 Act 1 ends with “On their ecstatic cries”. This word choice makes me wonder if the girls truly knew what the consequences of their claims would be. For Act 2, I’m curious about what Tituba's fate will be. Hale says that they will protect Tituba as long as she confesses to witchcraft, but I highly doubt he will follow through.
In the first act of Arthur Miller's, “The Crucible," the Puritan society parallels a judgmental society that highlights and values the inequality of races and women based on the treatment of Tituba and other slaves. The play opens with Tituba fearfully checking on Betty, who is in a severe health condition. Reverend Parris, her slave owner, however, verbally abuses her when she enters the room and forces her out. Tituba hurries out because her slave sense tells her that the trouble in the house will eventually fall upon her back. Looking back at the values of Puritans, the treatment of slaves in Salem is no surprise. They believed that they were born into the selected group of individuals that were called by God to pursue their way to heaven. They saw themselves as superior to the rest of society and individuals. To synthesize with a prior reading, Mary Rowlandson (a puritan) also demonstrated her resentment toward other racial groups, like the Indians in her narrative. When Reverend Parris confronts Abigail on the dances that he witnessed, he asks her if her name in the town is “entirely white.” White symbolizes the purity and authority that Puritans valued, the symbol of colors, ironically, was set by them. Abigail then answers that her reputation is white and that she will not work as a servant, “They want slaves, not such I. Let them send to Barbados for that. I will not black my face for any of them.” Abigail, like other puritans, saw slaves (people of color) as the inferior group when she states that she will not “blacken” herself. Slavery before the discovery of America had nothing to do with color, anyone with misfortune and low status could be a slave of the elite classes. However, the idea of social inequality on the basis of color went on to be developed and supported in America throughout its history. Slavery was not abolished until the 19th century; and even after abolishment, the Jim Crow laws still segregated people of color. Even today the idea of white supremacy and stereotyping is relevant. One could say that the inhumane Puritan views of society and their values could have been an influence on the lasting views of racial separation in America.
The first Act of “The Crucible” begins with Parris praying over his daughter, Betty, who has not been able to wake up. As the story goes on, the rumor of witchcraft starts to spread in Salem, which makes new characters to enter Betty’s room. The main people that I’m going to discuss in this blog post are Abigail and Parris, who were two people to seem to care highly about their reputation in the village. When the Putnam’s came into the room to address there might be witchcraft occurring, Parris immediately begged Thomas to not consider witchcraft as a possibility. “They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house.” He was concerned more with what people were going to think about him, instead of the real issue at hand. That to me suggests, that he is selfish and cares more about his reputation in the village than his daughter's health. He has worked very hard to keep the people on his side so he will protect his reputation at all costs. Another person who was very concerned about their reputation, even more than Reverend Parris, was Abigail. Abigail comes across as a manipulative and selfish character, who will do anything to keep her name clean. When Parris asked her what happened the night she was dancing, she kept on lying to save herself and even threatened Mercy and Betty, to not say anything else about what happened. She went to great lengths to keep an innocent reputation in the village, and constantly reminded Parris of that by stating that she is a “good girl” and a “proper girl”, which we all know is not true. Reputation seems to be something that many people in Salem are willing to protect, no matter the costs. In today’s society, people are still very concerned about their reputation and what others think about them, as it is something that can make or break their social status. -Giselle Diaz
What once started as an individual joke, turned into a life-saving event. Little orphan Abigail Parris was taken in my her Uncle Mr. Parris. What started off as a vengeful joke, turns out a life-taking event. WIth that being said, let's start from the beginning. When the story began, the tone of the story was fearful. I state this because Betty, who is Mr. Parris’ daughter is lying on her deathbed and nobody knows how she got this way. I would also say that the tone is also suspicious because the only person that was with Betty before her accident was Abigail. The only problem with that, is that Abigail will do anything to keep what happened a secret. That includes threatening all of the teenage girls that helped. During the story, Mr. Parris is trying to figure out what happened the night that he caught Betty and Abigail dancing in the forbidden forest. Keep in mind that everything was a sin back then, and they were very religious. For example, if you spoke without being told to, you will be punished. With that being said, I believe that this is a puritan belief. While Mr. Parris was interrogating Abigail, he stated, “I have given you a home, child, I have put clothes on your back- now give me upright answer. Your name in the town- it is entirely white, is it not? This made me realize that with the other story of Young Goodman Brown that the pink of the ribbon is purity, but not full pure considering it is pink. There is a deeper meaning to when he stated that her name is entirely white. He is meaning that she is pure and innocent, but if word gets out that she has lied or is in communication of witchcraft, she will then become impure, which will change the color to her name.
Suspicion with a hint of color At the very beginning of the First Act of the Crucible it draws your attention in right then and there. It starts off with Parris Daughter dead, and no one can figure out why. But Betty, the daughter was in the woulds with her cousin Abigail, who does not seem to want to tell what happened. The Crucible just does a very good job of foreshadowing and keeping the audience intrigued. The way Arthur Miller describes Abigail in this situation, how she is acting “quivering” how she is talking and being very careful about what she says and she is clearly not saying something that happened. This is foreshadowing that something that did happen will appear later in the book. Parris then goes on to talk about her and how her name is white, this reminded me of Young GoodMan Brown when the author uses the sweet pink bow to represent innocence. That is kind of what is happening here, when Parris says her name is white it means her name is innocent but she needs to tell him what happened. MIller just does a great job with foreshadowing and story telling to keep the audine intrigued. Personally throughout the act I just keep thinking and wondering what happened to Betty? But without a hint of worry that is in Mr. Parris and how uncomforbale Abigail is the audience would never know how concerned they should actually be, the whole story is just a little off but that is what makes me want to read more. Rachael Cooper
The sexism of Puritan culture Throughout Act I of the Crucible, we blatantly see sexist aspects of the culture. Women are treated with the utmost suspicious for even the most simple acts, which would not have been questioned had they been performed by men. The first example of this is Parris’ judgement of Abigail, Betty, and the other girls in the woods. Early on in his accusation of Abigail, Parris says, “Aye, a dress. And I thought I saw - someone naked running through the trees!” While the girls were harshly condemned and promised punishment for being in the woods. However, not once did anyone ask what reason Parris had for being out in the woods at night as well, the woods being a place often associated with sin and demonic entities (see Young Goodman Brown). There was no excuse given as to why he was in the woods watching several young girls (including those related to him) dance around. Additionally, later on, we see another example of women being questioned for not being entirely submissive to their husbands. Closer to the end of Act I, Giles Corey asks Hale about the reading of “strange books” and what it means. About his wife Martha he states, “I’m not sayin’ she’s touched the Devil, now, but I’d admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them. She’ll not answer me, y’ see.” Despite his words, Giles Corey strongly insinuates before this that the books Martha is reading are devilish because he couldn’t pray while she was in the house reading them. There is nothing wrong with Martha reading a book but because she refused to tell Giles, there is immediately suspicion upon her actions. These are but two examples of the double standards for women and men in Puritan society, where women must answer to men for their actions but men do not answer for theirs. Bailey Christensen
In the story, “The Crucible”, the tone in the book is suspicious. As we looked back in Act 1, a lot happened. We got introduced to all characters and development of character occured in the story. If we referred to the friend, Abigial, she is someone who brings suspicious in the scene. We all know Betty is sick and something happened that night the girls went out. As Paris (Betty’s dad), believes witchcraft is involved in this sickness. Abigial is trying to convince everyone that is not the case. However, the other friend claimed Abigial made the girl go to a forest and if they don’t follow, she will do something to them. However, Abigial is hiding something that night, admits to certain things but doesn’t want to tell them the blood that was involved. Everyone is very suspicious and concerned. They want to know what truly happened to Betty, which creats tention in the scene. Who should the point their fingers to? Paris already suspicious about Abigial and the involvement of witchcraft. With that, it created a huge tone of suspicious. The style of the author is very creative. He does a good job with dilogue and breaks some conversation to gives us more background knowledge. It creates a better understanding for the scene. He does a good job developing character personality. He also does a good job staying at one setting and keep it interesting in the same setting. Also, he does a good job created good background information for us, readers, to decide or make a guess on what is happening. It gets us involved.
In the first act of the play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller starts off by describing the setting in which the play begins. The character Reverend Samuel Parris is praying for the sake of his daughter, Betty Parris. Throughout the act many characters get presented and described as they play their part. For example John Proctor. John Proctor is much more different than every other character, who gets presented later on in Act 1.He is described as a farmer in his mid - thirties who sees the hypocrisy around him even though he is a hypocrite himself. Hypocrisy is a major role of this first act, hypocrisy and ignorance. In the beginning of the act, Reverend Parris was described as an individual who had taken a "villainous path" in his past, he was related to contributing to crime or something wicked. Reverend Parris was still the leader of the clergy, leading people off into doing good, but him himself was unpleasant. There's ignorance in the people for following his lead. In the literature the characters claim witchcraft is the reason why the girls are in the state they are in. Mrs. Putnam, another character who herself is haunted by her dreams and has nostalgia for her past. Shes’ caught in the death of her seven babies, she’s desperate to find out the reason why they died. Even though her daughter Ruth, another “witchcraft” victim is in her deathbed as well as Betty, she claims slave Tituba had the power to talk to the dead. Talking to the dead is something Mrs. Putnam is looking forward too, this is an example of hypocrisy. Mrs. Putnam quotes, “I’d not call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick. It’s death, y’know, it’s death drivin’ into them, forked and hoofed.” Later on she quotes, “And now, this year, my Ruth, my only-- I see her turning strange… And so I thought to send her to your Tituba--” What leads Mrs. Putnam to take in the wicked as a solution? Her curiosity, her ignorance in which the only “logical” reason seeks is to communicate to her dead children. Her desperateness. - Monserrat Avalos Pantoja
From the commencement of the book, the portrayal of Abigail’s character become rapidly suspicious. Abigail's denial of ritual dancing, in the forest, at night is discovered to be false. Abigail’s self-defense of “false” accusations and then the exposure of other people who supposedly were in contact with devil seems suspicious enough. However, the elephant in the room is her relationship with Proctor. As soon as Abigail and Proctor are left in the room alone with Betty, her personality becomes more alive, or more bubbly. It is discovered that they had an affair while Abigail worked for the Proctor family; she was “put out” by John Proctor’s wife, thus forcing her to find work with Parris. Their encounter at Parris’s house seems to be described as very one-sided. Abigail pushes and is somewhat aggressive when explaining her feelings and their relationship to Proctor. Proctor attempts to diffuse the situation by telling Abigail to forget about their affair. Proctor states, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you against. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.” Focusing on Proctor, he is described as a man with power, a respected man, a feared man, a confident man. However, hypocrisy seems to outline a plethora of relationships found in the text. Although Proctor appears to be a man who is respected, there are secrets that create him into a hypocrite. Additionally, Abigail also describes herself as a “proper girl.” Having a relationship with Proctor does not fit the definition of a “proper girl.” Having a relationship with Abigail also does not fit the definition of a “respected man.” The constant deception or lying to either the rest of the village or to themselves is a perfect example of hypocrisy. Saying one specific thing that contradicts the actions taken is common in this situation. Taking into account the strong Puritan faith weaved into society makes this situation even worse. Puritan faith definitely prohibits this specific type of relationship and even more so, the hypocrisy. Instead of worrying about witches and rituals, Proctor and Abigail should establish their self-worth and their own actions to begin with because hypocrisy is actually a sin as well.
In the play "The Crucible" the author begins the story by listing the characteristics of Parris and his past life living in the Salem village. Parris was a very self-centered person that didn't care about anyone else except for his family. Although, Parris did hate young kids even though he had one. In addition, the author started to describe the setting of the play. This story took place in the 1600's during the Salem witch trials. The story also took place in the Salem village where there was a lot of witchcraft going on. The author then started to describe the characters and the main idea of the story; Parris was in the woods one day and found these girls named Betty, Abigail(the nanny), and Tituba(the slave) in the forest doing witchcraft enhanced dances which then lead to them preaching the Devil and his presence. This then led to the unconsciousness of Betty and the theme. Never preach the devil or its bad presence or else it will come and bite you with bad luck and bad wishes. Parris tried his best to try and get out of Abigail but Abigail refused to tell the truth to Parris. Parris then told Hale(a priest) that had no knowledge of witchcraft to try and bring back Betty. Tituba,Betty, and Abigail then started to open up what actually happened and who caused this situation to happen. After the girls started to open up they started listing off who the suspects where of doing witchcraft. In the story of Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson doesn't express her feelings as much as "The Crucible" does because the characters do show their real true self and express their emotions to each one of the characters in the story. -Amador Espinoza
As soon as Proctor enters the play, his full character is revealed to the audience. Miller portrays John Proctor at first glance as a middle aged farmer, who is highly regarded among the village and assumes a stable, intelligent, and firm personality. To many in this village, Proctor is seen as a well contributing, model citizen. However, Miller soon reveals that Proctor is in fact hiding a very dark, reputation ruining secret. Proctor, a man married to a very sickly Elizabeth Proctor, had been having an affair with his much younger servant, Abigail. It is easy to see through the way that he speaks to Abigail while she confronts him about their relationship that he knows what he’s doing is wrong but he still wavers in the face of temptation. For example the line, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again” illustrates Proctors desire but also the regret he carries for his sins. Puritan culture, as seen in this novel as well as other texts like the one from Mary Rowlandson and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, has proven to deal very harshly with such sins and do not include a focus on forgiveness. Instead, Puritans are taught that unfortunate things happen to people who sin and that God has complete mercy over what happens to them as a result of their sins. Because of this, Puritans who have sinned, like John Proctor, keep their wrongdoings a secret and live their lives internally believing that they are helpless frauds. Because Proctor is well respected and projects good Puritan values to society, he lives his life in a state of constant hypocrisy knowing that he has committed such a great sin.
In the “Crucible” Act 1 there is a good use of tone to show how the characters acted and how they felt towards each other and even how the audience saw the characters. The tone of the play is very cautious and unsympathetic, this could suggest that the characters created the rough events of the play, rather than being victimized by them. At the start of the play, the author characterizes Parris as “viliunas” and saying, “there is very little good to be said for his.” Even though his daughter Betty is sick, Parris is more concerned with avoiding his enemies, while the Putnam's, who also have a sick daughter are eager simply to antagonize other characters. The author describes the townspeople in unflattering ways, saying that unlike earlier Putitan settlers they are “not quite the dedicated folk that arrived on the Mayflower.” More so, their faith is an excuse to fuel local spats between families, which makes their accusations of witchcraft even more outrageous. The narrator's description of Parris and Putnam are especially scornful, and the townspeople are characterized by their “parochial snobbery” and “land-lust.” The only characters the author defends are the accused, and even the protagonist, John Proctor, is described as sarcastic and impatient. The author uses many different tones throughout the play and uses characters to show the different types of tones used.
"The Crucible" Act 1 did a good job of introducing every character and setting up the tone of the play. With every character is set up for the rest of the play so their is no hidden themes or any new things from the characters. The most interesting one is the nanny she is starting to seem many and like a witch.
In "The Crucible" the author uses the first few pages to introduce several main and supporting characters, theses characters are introduced quickly and chaotically which fits the mood extremely well. The entire town is panicked by the news of possible witchery going on between fellow townspeople. Seemingly unrelated throughout the Act, it becomes apparently obvious how deep religion runs in the town of Salem. All persons in Salem are pretty much required to attend Reverend Parris's sermons, and it’s a relatively small town (even for being in the past). I believe these factors contribute heavily to the amount of stress the town faced, due to religion they were extremely prone to believing in witchery and the devil. And when people become close everyone has groups and grudges they hold against other people since it’s so hard to getaway. Additionally, there is lots of drama involved so ultimately it’s a slippery slope. Another issue I had with them turning to witchcraft without blinking an eye, was Reverend Hales entire character. Though it’s obvious that he knows a lot about witchcraft I believe that he is simply searching for a situation where is knowledge can actually be applied. Almost as if he may be willing to make things up just to feel useful. I believe this because the author had stated, “On being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for,” (31). The author makes it sound as though this is the first time he has ever been called upon or at least it’s been a very long time. No doubt that he is qualified but the fact that he takes such pride in joy in it seems dangerous. If he’s hungry for a job, to feel useful, or simply to prove witchcraft exists then he may be willing to twist the situation to feel as though he’s knowledge is necessary.
The Crucible, is in essence a story of good versus evil, with no room for a neutral party. At the beginning of Act 1, Betty Proctor is lying in bed with some unknown illness. Because no one can figure out what is causing the problem, many begin to suspect witchcraft. In Puritan society unexplained occurrences or even some explainable occurrences will be deemed as witchcraft or the works of Satan. When accusations of witchcraft first begin, other citizens of Salem begin to support the accuser or even accuse someone else. This seems to reflect the idea of good versus evil, or God versus the Devil, that is so prevalent in Puritan society. I think that the citizens of Salem were scared of where they would fall on the spectrum of good and evil, so they were more quick to accuse others as a way of saving themselves. I think some citizens genuinely thought they were doing a good thing by accusing people of something they deemed to be witchcraft, they just simply could not see an in-between; if something/someone wasn't associate with God then they had to be associated with the devil. As said in the introduction to Act 1, “Long-held hatreds of neighbors could now be openly expressed, and vengeance taken, despite the Bible’s charitable injunctions.” But the accusing of neighbors due to fear is not limited to the era of the Salem witch trials. Reading the introduction, Miller definitely makes connections to his contemporary time. During this time many who had views that could even slightly be considered communist would be taken into questioning. Arthur Miller himself was asked to bring forward anyone he thought could be communist. The communist hunts of the 1950s strongly aligned with the witch hunts of 1692. The Crucible is a representation of fear and how it can turn people against each other and draw the line between good and evil, whether that be through the means of God vs. Satan or Communism vs. democracy/capitalism.
In Act one of the crucible, we see a lot of emotional turmoil in the father and his opinions towards his daughter and Abigail his niece. As the story progresses we come to find out that betty has fallen victim to that of Abigail and Mary, who are guilty of witchcraft. As the story unravels, we start to learn more about the townsfolk and their sinful deeds they have committed, through jealousy, lust and greed. A theme of this story is that everyone wants to blame the girls for their devious crime against the town of salem, but each and every one of the townsfolk has committed a sin no better then that of of betty, Abigale, and marry. The story follows hypocrisy and sheds light on the ignorance of a man that will do harm when no one is looking. Abigale Is the perfect example of hypocrisy in this story as she quotes at the end of act one, "I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus...I go back to Jesus." But how can She claim to be a lover and follower of jesus when she was the one who tried to curse Putnam's wife by drinking blood. She is fuling the witch trials, and is giving more depth to her character which is very Devil like in this book. She is the antagonist which is causing the uproar in salem of the trails and why innocent girls are being punished for her wrong doings
"The Crucible" takes place in Salem around the time of the Salem Witch Trials. These were very dark times in American history and I believe the author is trying to convey this inhumane and terrible acts of accusation through tone and plot. The author uses many characters in this story, but the main ones I believe convey the different levels of human behavior in such a time. Abigail is a teen girl consulted with the devil in this story and in a way represents the society of this time; She who committed a wrong deed is so quick to deny it was her to have this sort of fake innocence that she wants people to believe, and is quick to blame others when she herself has done evil deeds such as consulting with the devil, and also having a slight affair with Proctor but when this fake mask is taken off and she is exposed she begs for forgiveness from god and pleads mercy, showing wekaness. This reflects society in the way that everyone has done evil deeds, but when punishment is put into play we hide behind a fake wall of "purity" and blame others, initially fueling a conflict. Hale also reflects society in the way that people are like animals, always blaming one another and causing conflict, but a claimed position of authority can completely change how they feel about a situation just because they are a person of higher standing. "The Crucible" is not just a story of the Salem Witch trials, but an unmasking of human nature when put into conflict, like how everyone believed in the Witches but just by Hale's word, their opinions changed. This story is very similar to "Young Goodman Brown" because that story highlights the fact, that their is evil and hypocrisy in every human, that no one person is to blame but the society itself is. This stry contains many references to Romantic literature, especially in the sense that inside every human, no matter how good, is evil, and that we all hide behind something from the fear of being judged.
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a fictitious remake of The Salem Witch trials. The Story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Miller has written The Crucible as a play. Now obviously we can’t forget the historical background of the play, in which his writing has allowed thousands to fully understand not only the historical aspect, but also literary aspect of the time at the same time. Aruthur has also allowed the use of dialogue to play a major role in the progression, and writing of the play. He uses many receptive details to allow readers, and viewers of the play to feel and see the emotions in which each character are undergoing during this time. But one of the things I found to be most unique during my reading of Act One of The Crucible is that it is made up of many different elements and one happens to be the stage directions, which help develop characters further. While Arthur has created the play to be in a third person point of view, he interjects at certain points which allows for us the readers to be given insight on all of the characters. While the author gives off information vital to understanding the characters he does it in critical tone. He suggests very early on that Reverend parris is stubborn, apprehensive, and even went so far as to describe him as “villainous”. Arthur also refers to other characters, and townspeople as snobs on the next two pages. While the narrator's tone may be harsh, the play’s tone is far different. You can feel the tension throughout the first act from Abigail and Betty arguing about drinking blood, to the quarrel between Proctor, Putnam, Giles Corey, and Parris, all the way to the very end when Abby and Betty begin naming individuals they have “witnessed” with the devil. Due to the agitation between characters during this one act we can only assume the tension will begin to build up. Could it possibly commence the turning of others on one another?
Trudy Lowe Act 1 This first act of the Crucible was really interesting, and quite easy to understand, besides the occasional word I couldn’t understand, of course. But other than that, the act was entertaining. I find the part where all of the children are freaking out and there is just that one having a mental breakdown on the bed (or maybe just being possessed and all) and they all kinda turn on eachother while simultaneously repeating that they didn’t even do anything wrong and they all need to keep to the same story. Kind of controversial, right? Anyway, character analysis, Amalia is kinda super young, and the man she hits on is old and married, so my guess is that she is evil or something, you know? I firmly enjoyed, while I was also creeped out a bit, that the cursed child started screaming the moment the priests started singing the gospel. This is kinda just ,y view of the story so far. This first act introduced a large quantity of the only characters we’re going to get in this story, while also presenting most of the conflicts that will inevitably lead to the rising actions and the climax in the story to try and resolve these issues. One of the first conflicts in this book is the mystery of the sick girl. She and some other children were all running rampid in the forest doing god knows what with witchcraft and all sorts of things that the innocent people in the village cannot yet prove, they can only speculate and through information together, for now. The there is Amailia that really wants a married man, especially the one who she previously had wrapped around her finger, and NOW we got some of the children pointing out some people they witnessed with the devil himself in that same forest! (Though to spread the scandal you must be in it, am I right?) Now we will witness the fate of those pointed out and All and all, the conflicts are interesting enough that I’m very excited to see what comes next in the second act!
Behind The Scenes In act two, there’s a lot of tension between everyone involved in the situation. The feeling of guilt, scared, and hope. Little by little, we are finding out many hidden secrets that Proctor and Abigial. By reading this act, I wanted to talk about the theme in this act. Proctor is feeling a little tension when his wife is asking him to testify for Abigial. I believe the guilt is truly living upon Proctor. Throughout the act, the wife is really on Proctor because she does not believe what he says because she knows he was in a room alone with Abigial. And we all know, something happened with Abigial and Proctor. Later, he felt like he is constantly being judged by his wife. With that said, I feel like that guilt is what is causing him to feel this way. He wants to live in his house without feeling like he is constantly being judged or being in a sort of “courtroom”. He wants it to stop because he feels like he is a step closer to letting the secret to come out. Not only is there tension with the married couple, there’s more tension with the warrant for Elizabeth and Mary. Finding out she gave to Elizabeth with a needle. With all I’ve said, I feel like in this act there’s a lot of theme, but guilt and hidden secrets are the main two that I was looking at during this act. Guilt played an important role for Proctor. Like I’ve said before, throughout the act, his wife is pressuring him to testify but all he is doing is trying to cover all that happened. His guilt is pushing him because he is getting tired of everything that his wife is triggering him to do. Secondly, hidden secrets also played an important role in the scene for Elizabeth and Mary. They had a warrant for her arrest. Asked her if she owned a doll but they end up finding it and even with a needle in it. Caused a lot of tension with the people. The secrets have been hidden and little by little, people are getting caught with some sort of witchcraft. Hidden secrets and guilt, what other feeling or secrets will be revealed.
Saint or Not In act three, religion had a lot to do with judgement of the Proctor when he enterned the courtroom. The Puritans have a big belief of believing in God and going to church. Which is something Proctor didn’t do. It’s crazy to know hat at this time, many saw if you don’t attend church you are in some sort of trouble. Beside the religion involvement in this act. I wanted to mentioned tone. The author did a good job mentioned the tone and tensions between Proctor and finding out that Elizabeth is pregnant. It creates this bold tone with wanting to know what’s next.
Abigail is truly malicious with pinning all of the blame for the mysterious activity in the woods on Tibita. Right of the gun she is obviously an easy target for being a slave, and because Abigail seemed to “confess” she looked at less harshly and made Tibita seem very guilty. They were both arrested for witchcraft unfortunately which is under very loose claims, and it starts a chain effect of just bad things. Salem ends up being torn apart by this because it raises so many questions, how could this happen, why weren’t the children protected, why was nothing being done to stop this before it happened? Their puritain ways are being pushed to the test with all of the hysteria going on and Reverend Hale is trying to keep them intact and to achieve this he is determined to rid Salem of all witches and witchcraft and to do this, he would have a witch hunt and get rid of every single one. To achieve this they decide to start up a witch hunt which is bad news for someone who is even slightly suspicious. For example, Martha, Giles Wife, was found suspicious because she was reading books behind Giles back and this made Reverend Hale convinced that she was indulging in Witchcraft. The outcome of the girls accused is sort of backwards because they gain authority from being the accused, especially Tibita who would prove to have almost zero authority before being accused, but after has more power than ever before. She can say things without being punished and uses this power to make many accusations that very well would have gotten her in grave danger before.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. The town is run by Puritan beliefs. The story starts off very slow, the first few pages a mostly just background which are fairly slow to read. But in this slow section we find out that the daughter of Reverend Paris, Betty Paris has fallen into a mysterious comma after her father found her, his slaves and some other girls dancing in the woods. Being as this is in Salem and the witch trials are a large part of their society the fact that his daughter was in a coma after being found dancing with a slave and some other girls causes suspicion. The girls who are still conscious are questioned and accused of attempting to conjure spirits in the woods. One of the girls that the story concentrates on during the questioning is Titbua, the Reverend's slave. Even from the beginning though, you can see how Paris's treatment of Tituba reveals his inner anger and selfishness. You can also see Tituba's powerlessness when she attempts to ask if Betty will be alright and Paris yells at her to leave the room.
A Lesson in Empathy
ReplyDeleteAct 1 of The Crucible felt very chaotic at the beginning, with random new characters from the village constantly showing up in Betty's room to see if she's a victim of witchcraft. This came across to me as being very nosy and rude; to me it didn't seem to be any of their business. The worst culprits were the Putnams- they stuck around longer than everyone else and immediately asserted that witchcraft was the cause of the girls' troubles. Mrs. Ann Putnam's first words upon entering were, "It is a marvel. It is surely a stroke of hell upon you." I found myself thinking that the Putnams were simply trying to stir up trouble, since Puritans didn't exactly lead exciting lives anyways. However, I soon learned that Mrs. Putnam had lost seven babies, and later that she sent her daughter Ruth to Tituba in order to communicate with the dead and find out what had caused their deaths. This caused me to empathize more with the Putnams, especially Ann, because losing one child, let alone seven, would be devastating, and in a time where medical research was very limited, I imagine that she as a mother would be willing to find out what had happened by any means possible. This further goes to show the power of witch hunts- people have very real problems they want answers to, and a witch hunt provides a simple explanation that many, such as Ann Putnam, are willing to jump on in order to possibly ease their pain. This was very relevant during the McCarthy era in which The Crucible was written, in which various political dissenters in America were accused of being communist, allied with the greatly feared enemy of the US, the USSR. People during this time channeled their very real fears of nuclear war into a paranoid hatred of anything that could be labeled as even slightly "communist." Arthur Miller draws this comparison with the Puritans, who, despite being unreasonably wary of witchcraft, did have very serious reasons behind that fear.
Recognizing the power of fear, which is a universal theme.
DeleteAct 1 of The Crucible started as a hard read. It began with about 5 pages of background, which was useful, but also very dull. But once I got to the dialogue, I was able to read through it quite quickly and began enjoying it. Molly addressed one of my problems with Act 1, which was the hecticness. There were many characters per scene, and I had trouble keeping track of who was who, especially since a majority of the characters had similar first and/or last names. I was also constantly wondering how all of these characters got into Parris’s house. Was it a normal occurrence for people to march into other people’s homes uninvited? However, once I put those thoughts on the back burner, I was fully able to invest my attention on the story. Something I thought was interesting was the word choice Miller used at the end of the act when Abigail and Betty were calling out the names of people they accused of being witches. On page 45, Abigail says “I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil! It is rising to a great glee”. And then on page 46 Act 1 ends with “On their ecstatic cries”. This word choice makes me wonder if the girls truly knew what the consequences of their claims would be. For Act 2, I’m curious about what Tituba's fate will be. Hale says that they will protect Tituba as long as she confesses to witchcraft, but I highly doubt he will follow through.
ReplyDeleteThe hectic scene might be reflecting the hectic environment. the motivation of the girls is interesting to explore.
DeleteThe Negative Legacy of Puritan Values
ReplyDeleteIn the first act of Arthur Miller's, “The Crucible," the Puritan society parallels a judgmental society that highlights and values the inequality of races and women based on the treatment of Tituba and other slaves. The play opens with Tituba fearfully checking on Betty, who is in a severe health condition. Reverend Parris, her slave owner, however, verbally abuses her when she enters the room and forces her out. Tituba hurries out because her slave sense tells her that the trouble in the house will eventually fall upon her back. Looking back at the values of Puritans, the treatment of slaves in Salem is no surprise. They believed that they were born into the selected group of individuals that were called by God to pursue their way to heaven. They saw themselves as superior to the rest of society and individuals. To synthesize with a prior reading, Mary Rowlandson (a puritan) also demonstrated her resentment toward other racial groups, like the Indians in her narrative. When Reverend Parris confronts Abigail on the dances that he witnessed, he asks her if her name in the town is “entirely white.” White symbolizes the purity and authority that Puritans valued, the symbol of colors, ironically, was set by them. Abigail then answers that her reputation is white and that she will not work as a servant, “They want slaves, not such I. Let them send to Barbados for that. I will not black my face for any of them.” Abigail, like other puritans, saw slaves (people of color) as the inferior group when she states that she will not “blacken” herself. Slavery before the discovery of America had nothing to do with color, anyone with misfortune and low status could be a slave of the elite classes. However, the idea of social inequality on the basis of color went on to be developed and supported in America throughout its history. Slavery was not abolished until the 19th century; and even after abolishment, the Jim Crow laws still segregated people of color. Even today the idea of white supremacy and stereotyping is relevant. One could say that the inhumane Puritan views of society and their values could have been an influence on the lasting views of racial separation in America.
Andres Valdez Perez
DeleteGood analysis of white in regards to both purity and race, which also why it is easy for the girls to accuse Tituba as well.
DeleteThe Importance of Reputation in Salem
ReplyDeleteThe first Act of “The Crucible” begins with Parris praying over his daughter, Betty, who has not been able to wake up. As the story goes on, the rumor of witchcraft starts to spread in Salem, which makes new characters to enter Betty’s room. The main people that I’m going to discuss in this blog post are Abigail and Parris, who were two people to seem to care highly about their reputation in the village. When the Putnam’s came into the room to address there might be witchcraft occurring, Parris immediately begged Thomas to not consider witchcraft as a possibility. “They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house.” He was concerned more with what people were going to think about him, instead of the real issue at hand. That to me suggests, that he is selfish and cares more about his reputation in the village than his daughter's health. He has worked very hard to keep the people on his side so he will protect his reputation at all costs. Another person who was very concerned about their reputation, even more than Reverend Parris, was Abigail. Abigail comes across as a manipulative and selfish character, who will do anything to keep her name clean. When Parris asked her what happened the night she was dancing, she kept on lying to save herself and even threatened Mercy and Betty, to not say anything else about what happened. She went to great lengths to keep an innocent reputation in the village, and constantly reminded Parris of that by stating that she is a “good girl” and a “proper girl”, which we all know is not true. Reputation seems to be something that many people in Salem are willing to protect, no matter the costs. In today’s society, people are still very concerned about their reputation and what others think about them, as it is something that can make or break their social status.
-Giselle Diaz
Reputation is a common concern for all the characters, as well as the facade of those reputations.
DeleteWhat once started as an individual joke, turned into a life-saving event. Little orphan Abigail Parris was taken in my her Uncle Mr. Parris. What started off as a vengeful joke, turns out a life-taking event. WIth that being said, let's start from the beginning. When the story began, the tone of the story was fearful. I state this because Betty, who is Mr. Parris’ daughter is lying on her deathbed and nobody knows how she got this way. I would also say that the tone is also suspicious because the only person that was with Betty before her accident was Abigail. The only problem with that, is that Abigail will do anything to keep what happened a secret. That includes threatening all of the teenage girls that helped. During the story, Mr. Parris is trying to figure out what happened the night that he caught Betty and Abigail dancing in the forbidden forest. Keep in mind that everything was a sin back then, and they were very religious. For example, if you spoke without being told to, you will be punished. With that being said, I believe that this is a puritan belief. While Mr. Parris was interrogating Abigail, he stated, “I have given you a home, child, I have put clothes on your back- now give me upright answer. Your name in the town- it is entirely white, is it not? This made me realize that with the other story of Young Goodman Brown that the pink of the ribbon is purity, but not full pure considering it is pink. There is a deeper meaning to when he stated that her name is entirely white. He is meaning that she is pure and innocent, but if word gets out that she has lied or is in communication of witchcraft, she will then become impure, which will change the color to her name.
ReplyDeleteTrinity Anderson
DeleteGood comparison to "Young Goodman Brown." Suspicion will only continue to grown. Continue to explore what contributes to it and the effect it has
DeleteSuspicion with a hint of color
ReplyDeleteAt the very beginning of the First Act of the Crucible it draws your attention in right then and there. It starts off with Parris Daughter dead, and no one can figure out why. But Betty, the daughter was in the woulds with her cousin Abigail, who does not seem to want to tell what happened. The Crucible just does a very good job of foreshadowing and keeping the audience intrigued. The way Arthur Miller describes Abigail in this situation, how she is acting “quivering” how she is talking and being very careful about what she says and she is clearly not saying something that happened. This is foreshadowing that something that did happen will appear later in the book. Parris then goes on to talk about her and how her name is white, this reminded me of Young GoodMan Brown when the author uses the sweet pink bow to represent innocence. That is kind of what is happening here, when Parris says her name is white it means her name is innocent but she needs to tell him what happened. MIller just does a great job with foreshadowing and story telling to keep the audine intrigued. Personally throughout the act I just keep thinking and wondering what happened to Betty? But without a hint of worry that is in Mr. Parris and how uncomforbale Abigail is the audience would never know how concerned they should actually be, the whole story is just a little off but that is what makes me want to read more.
Rachael Cooper
The would quivering would also indicate Abigail's emotions about what happened. What is her current state of mind?
DeleteThe sexism of Puritan culture
ReplyDeleteThroughout Act I of the Crucible, we blatantly see sexist aspects of the culture. Women are treated with the utmost suspicious for even the most simple acts, which would not have been questioned had they been performed by men. The first example of this is Parris’ judgement of Abigail, Betty, and the other girls in the woods. Early on in his accusation of Abigail, Parris says, “Aye, a dress. And I thought I saw - someone naked running through the trees!” While the girls were harshly condemned and promised punishment for being in the woods. However, not once did anyone ask what reason Parris had for being out in the woods at night as well, the woods being a place often associated with sin and demonic entities (see Young Goodman Brown). There was no excuse given as to why he was in the woods watching several young girls (including those related to him) dance around. Additionally, later on, we see another example of women being questioned for not being entirely submissive to their husbands. Closer to the end of Act I, Giles Corey asks Hale about the reading of “strange books” and what it means. About his wife Martha he states, “I’m not sayin’ she’s touched the Devil, now, but I’d admire to know what books she reads and why she hides them. She’ll not answer me, y’ see.” Despite his words, Giles Corey strongly insinuates before this that the books Martha is reading are devilish because he couldn’t pray while she was in the house reading them. There is nothing wrong with Martha reading a book but because she refused to tell Giles, there is immediately suspicion upon her actions. These are but two examples of the double standards for women and men in Puritan society, where women must answer to men for their actions but men do not answer for theirs.
Bailey Christensen
The double standard is strong and good explanation of both examples.
DeleteExamine the tone and style of the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the story, “The Crucible”, the tone in the book is suspicious. As we looked back in Act 1, a lot happened. We got introduced to all characters and development of character occured in the story. If we referred to the friend, Abigial, she is someone who brings suspicious in the scene. We all know Betty is sick and something happened that night the girls went out. As Paris (Betty’s dad), believes witchcraft is involved in this sickness. Abigial is trying to convince everyone that is not the case. However, the other friend claimed Abigial made the girl go to a forest and if they don’t follow, she will do something to them. However, Abigial is hiding something that night, admits to certain things but doesn’t want to tell them the blood that was involved. Everyone is very suspicious and concerned. They want to know what truly happened to Betty, which creats tention in the scene. Who should the point their fingers to? Paris already suspicious about Abigial and the involvement of witchcraft. With that, it created a huge tone of suspicious. The style of the author is very creative. He does a good job with dilogue and breaks some conversation to gives us more background knowledge. It creates a better understanding for the scene. He does a good job developing character personality. He also does a good job staying at one setting and keep it interesting in the same setting. Also, he does a good job created good background information for us, readers, to decide or make a guess on what is happening. It gets us involved.
Hypocrisy and Ignorance
ReplyDeleteIn the first act of the play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller starts off by describing the setting in which the play begins. The character Reverend Samuel Parris is praying for the sake of his daughter, Betty Parris. Throughout the act many characters get presented and described as they play their part. For example John Proctor. John Proctor is much more different than every other character, who gets presented later on in Act 1.He is described as a farmer in his mid - thirties who sees the hypocrisy around him even though he is a hypocrite himself. Hypocrisy is a major role of this first act, hypocrisy and ignorance. In the beginning of the act, Reverend Parris was described as an individual who had taken a "villainous path" in his past, he was related to contributing to crime or something wicked. Reverend Parris was still the leader of the clergy, leading people off into doing good, but him himself was unpleasant. There's ignorance in the people for following his lead. In the literature the characters claim witchcraft is the reason why the girls are in the state they are in. Mrs. Putnam, another character who herself is haunted by her dreams and has nostalgia for her past. Shes’ caught in the death of her seven babies, she’s desperate to find out the reason why they died. Even though her daughter Ruth, another “witchcraft” victim is in her deathbed as well as Betty, she claims slave Tituba had the power to talk to the dead. Talking to the dead is something Mrs. Putnam is looking forward too, this is an example of hypocrisy. Mrs. Putnam quotes, “I’d not call it sick; the Devil’s touch is heavier than sick. It’s death, y’know, it’s death drivin’ into them, forked and hoofed.” Later on she quotes, “And now, this year, my Ruth, my only-- I see her turning strange… And so I thought to send her to your Tituba--” What leads Mrs. Putnam to take in the wicked as a solution? Her curiosity, her ignorance in which the only “logical” reason seeks is to communicate to her dead children. Her desperateness.
- Monserrat Avalos Pantoja
From the commencement of the book, the portrayal of Abigail’s character become rapidly suspicious. Abigail's denial of ritual dancing, in the forest, at night is discovered to be false. Abigail’s self-defense of “false” accusations and then the exposure of other people who supposedly were in contact with devil seems suspicious enough. However, the elephant in the room is her relationship with Proctor. As soon as Abigail and Proctor are left in the room alone with Betty, her personality becomes more alive, or more bubbly. It is discovered that they had an affair while Abigail worked for the Proctor family; she was “put out” by John Proctor’s wife, thus forcing her to find work with Parris. Their encounter at Parris’s house seems to be described as very one-sided. Abigail pushes and is somewhat aggressive when explaining her feelings and their relationship to Proctor. Proctor attempts to diffuse the situation by telling Abigail to forget about their affair. Proctor states, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you against. Wipe it out of mind. We never touched, Abby.” Focusing on Proctor, he is described as a man with power, a respected man, a feared man, a confident man. However, hypocrisy seems to outline a plethora of relationships found in the text. Although Proctor appears to be a man who is respected, there are secrets that create him into a hypocrite. Additionally, Abigail also describes herself as a “proper girl.” Having a relationship with Proctor does not fit the definition of a “proper girl.” Having a relationship with Abigail also does not fit the definition of a “respected man.” The constant deception or lying to either the rest of the village or to themselves is a perfect example of hypocrisy. Saying one specific thing that contradicts the actions taken is common in this situation. Taking into account the strong Puritan faith weaved into society makes this situation even worse. Puritan faith definitely prohibits this specific type of relationship and even more so, the hypocrisy. Instead of worrying about witches and rituals, Proctor and Abigail should establish their self-worth and their own actions to begin with because hypocrisy is actually a sin as well.
ReplyDeleteRolando Martinez-Rico
DeleteHypocrisy and Ignorance
ReplyDeleteIn the play "The Crucible" the author begins the story by listing the characteristics of Parris and his past life living in the Salem village. Parris was a very self-centered person that didn't care about anyone else except for his family. Although, Parris did hate young kids even though he had one. In addition, the author started to describe the setting of the play. This story took place in the 1600's during the Salem witch trials. The story also took place in the Salem village where there was a lot of witchcraft going on. The author then started to describe the characters and the main idea of the story; Parris was in the woods one day and found these girls named Betty, Abigail(the nanny), and Tituba(the slave) in the forest doing witchcraft enhanced dances which then lead to them preaching the Devil and his presence. This then led to the unconsciousness of Betty and the theme. Never preach the devil or its bad presence or else it will come and bite you with bad luck and bad wishes. Parris tried his best to try and get out of Abigail but Abigail refused to tell the truth to Parris. Parris then told Hale(a priest) that had no knowledge of witchcraft to try and bring back Betty. Tituba,Betty, and Abigail then started to open up what actually happened and who caused this situation to happen. After the girls started to open up they started listing off who the suspects where of doing witchcraft. In the story of Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson doesn't express her feelings as much as "The Crucible" does because the characters do show their real true self and express their emotions to each one of the characters in the story.
-Amador Espinoza
Proctor and the Puritan Culture of Hypocrisy
ReplyDeleteAs soon as Proctor enters the play, his full character is revealed to the audience. Miller portrays John Proctor at first glance as a middle aged farmer, who is highly regarded among the village and assumes a stable, intelligent, and firm personality. To many in this village, Proctor is seen as a well contributing, model citizen. However, Miller soon reveals that Proctor is in fact hiding a very dark, reputation ruining secret. Proctor, a man married to a very sickly Elizabeth Proctor, had been having an affair with his much younger servant, Abigail. It is easy to see through the way that he speaks to Abigail while she confronts him about their relationship that he knows what he’s doing is wrong but he still wavers in the face of temptation. For example the line, “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I ever reach for you again” illustrates Proctors desire but also the regret he carries for his sins. Puritan culture, as seen in this novel as well as other texts like the one from Mary Rowlandson and “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, has proven to deal very harshly with such sins and do not include a focus on forgiveness. Instead, Puritans are taught that unfortunate things happen to people who sin and that God has complete mercy over what happens to them as a result of their sins. Because of this, Puritans who have sinned, like John Proctor, keep their wrongdoings a secret and live their lives internally believing that they are helpless frauds. Because Proctor is well respected and projects good Puritan values to society, he lives his life in a state of constant hypocrisy knowing that he has committed such a great sin.
In the “Crucible” Act 1 there is a good use of tone to show how the characters acted and how they felt towards each other and even how the audience saw the characters. The tone of the play is very cautious and unsympathetic, this could suggest that the characters created the rough events of the play, rather than being victimized by them. At the start of the play, the author characterizes Parris as “viliunas” and saying, “there is very little good to be said for his.” Even though his daughter Betty is sick, Parris is more concerned with avoiding his enemies, while the Putnam's, who also have a sick daughter are eager simply to antagonize other characters. The author describes the townspeople in unflattering ways, saying that unlike earlier Putitan settlers they are “not quite the dedicated folk that arrived on the Mayflower.” More so, their faith is an excuse to fuel local spats between families, which makes their accusations of witchcraft even more outrageous. The narrator's description of Parris and Putnam are especially scornful, and the townspeople are characterized by their “parochial snobbery” and “land-lust.” The only characters the author defends are the accused, and even the protagonist, John Proctor, is described as sarcastic and impatient. The author uses many different tones throughout the play and uses characters to show the different types of tones used.
ReplyDelete-Madison Stark
Delete"The Crucible" Act 1 did a good job of introducing every character and setting up the tone of the play. With every character is set up for the rest of the play so their is no hidden themes or any new things from the characters. The most interesting one is the nanny she is starting to seem many and like a witch.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Crucible" the author uses the first few pages to introduce several main and supporting characters, theses characters are introduced quickly and chaotically which fits the mood extremely well. The entire town is panicked by the news of possible witchery going on between fellow townspeople. Seemingly unrelated throughout the Act, it becomes apparently obvious how deep religion runs in the town of Salem. All persons in Salem are pretty much required to attend Reverend Parris's sermons, and it’s a relatively small town (even for being in the past). I believe these factors contribute heavily to the amount of stress the town faced, due to religion they were extremely prone to believing in witchery and the devil. And when people become close everyone has groups and grudges they hold against other people since it’s so hard to getaway. Additionally, there is lots of drama involved so ultimately it’s a slippery slope. Another issue I had with them turning to witchcraft without blinking an eye, was Reverend Hales entire character. Though it’s obvious that he knows a lot about witchcraft I believe that he is simply searching for a situation where is knowledge can actually be applied. Almost as if he may be willing to make things up just to feel useful. I believe this because the author had stated, “On being called here to ascertain witchcraft he felt the pride of the specialist whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for,” (31). The author makes it sound as though this is the first time he has ever been called upon or at least it’s been a very long time. No doubt that he is qualified but the fact that he takes such pride in joy in it seems dangerous. If he’s hungry for a job, to feel useful, or simply to prove witchcraft exists then he may be willing to twist the situation to feel as though he’s knowledge is necessary.
ReplyDeleteGood vs. Evil
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible, is in essence a story of good versus evil, with no room for a neutral party. At the beginning of Act 1, Betty Proctor is lying in bed with some unknown illness. Because no one can figure out what is causing the problem, many begin to suspect witchcraft. In Puritan society unexplained occurrences or even some explainable occurrences will be deemed as witchcraft or the works of Satan. When accusations of witchcraft first begin, other citizens of Salem begin to support the accuser or even accuse someone else. This seems to reflect the idea of good versus evil, or God versus the Devil, that is so prevalent in Puritan society. I think that the citizens of Salem were scared of where they would fall on the spectrum of good and evil, so they were more quick to accuse others as a way of saving themselves. I think some citizens genuinely thought they were doing a good thing by accusing people of something they deemed to be witchcraft, they just simply could not see an in-between; if something/someone wasn't associate with God then they had to be associated with the devil. As said in the introduction to Act 1, “Long-held hatreds of neighbors could now be openly expressed, and vengeance taken, despite the Bible’s charitable injunctions.” But the accusing of neighbors due to fear is not limited to the era of the Salem witch trials. Reading the introduction, Miller definitely makes connections to his contemporary time. During this time many who had views that could even slightly be considered communist would be taken into questioning. Arthur Miller himself was asked to bring forward anyone he thought could be communist. The communist hunts of the 1950s strongly aligned with the witch hunts of 1692. The Crucible is a representation of fear and how it can turn people against each other and draw the line between good and evil, whether that be through the means of God vs. Satan or Communism vs. democracy/capitalism.
In Act one of the crucible, we see a lot of emotional turmoil in the father and his opinions towards his daughter and Abigail his niece. As the story progresses we come to find out that betty has fallen victim to that of Abigail and Mary, who are guilty of witchcraft. As the story unravels, we start to learn more about the townsfolk and their sinful deeds they have committed, through jealousy, lust and greed. A theme of this story is that everyone wants to blame the girls for their devious crime against the town of salem, but each and every one of the townsfolk has committed a sin no better then that of of betty, Abigale, and marry. The story follows hypocrisy and sheds light on the ignorance of a man that will do harm when no one is looking. Abigale Is the perfect example of hypocrisy in this story as she quotes at the end of act one, "I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus...I go back to Jesus." But how can She claim to be a lover and follower of jesus when she was the one who tried to curse Putnam's wife by drinking blood. She is fuling the witch trials, and is giving more depth to her character which is very Devil like in this book. She is the antagonist which is causing the uproar in salem of the trails and why innocent girls are being punished for her wrong doings
ReplyDelete"The Crucible" takes place in Salem around the time of the Salem Witch Trials. These were very dark times in American history and I believe the author is trying to convey this inhumane and terrible acts of accusation through tone and plot. The author uses many characters in this story, but the main ones I believe convey the different levels of human behavior in such a time. Abigail is a teen girl consulted with the devil in this story and in a way represents the society of this time; She who committed a wrong deed is so quick to deny it was her to have this sort of fake innocence that she wants people to believe, and is quick to blame others when she herself has done evil deeds such as consulting with the devil, and also having a slight affair with Proctor but when this fake mask is taken off and she is exposed she begs for forgiveness from god and pleads mercy, showing wekaness. This reflects society in the way that everyone has done evil deeds, but when punishment is put into play we hide behind a fake wall of "purity" and blame others, initially fueling a conflict. Hale also reflects society in the way that people are like animals, always blaming one another and causing conflict, but a claimed position of authority can completely change how they feel about a situation just because they are a person of higher standing. "The Crucible" is not just a story of the Salem Witch trials, but an unmasking of human nature when put into conflict, like how everyone believed in the Witches but just by Hale's word, their opinions changed. This story is very similar to "Young Goodman Brown" because that story highlights the fact, that their is evil and hypocrisy in every human, that no one person is to blame but the society itself is. This stry contains many references to Romantic literature, especially in the sense that inside every human, no matter how good, is evil, and that we all hide behind something from the fear of being judged.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a fictitious remake of The Salem Witch trials. The Story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Miller has written The Crucible as a play. Now obviously we can’t forget the historical background of the play, in which his writing has allowed thousands to fully understand not only the historical aspect, but also literary aspect of the time at the same time. Aruthur has also allowed the use of dialogue to play a major role in the progression, and writing of the play. He uses many receptive details to allow readers, and viewers of the play to feel and see the emotions in which each character are undergoing during this time. But one of the things I found to be most unique during my reading of Act One of The Crucible is that it is made up of many different elements and one happens to be the stage directions, which help develop characters further. While Arthur has created the play to be in a third person point of view, he interjects at certain points which allows for us the readers to be given insight on all of the characters. While the author gives off information vital to understanding the characters he does it in critical tone. He suggests very early on that Reverend parris is stubborn, apprehensive, and even went so far as to describe him as “villainous”. Arthur also refers to other characters, and townspeople as snobs on the next two pages. While the narrator's tone may be harsh, the play’s tone is far different. You can feel the tension throughout the first act from Abigail and Betty arguing about drinking blood, to the quarrel between Proctor, Putnam, Giles Corey, and Parris, all the way to the very end when Abby and Betty begin naming individuals they have “witnessed” with the devil. Due to the agitation between characters during this one act we can only assume the tension will begin to build up. Could it possibly commence the turning of others on one another?
ReplyDeleteTrudy Lowe
ReplyDeleteAct 1
This first act of the Crucible was really interesting, and quite easy to understand, besides the occasional word I couldn’t understand, of course. But other than that, the act was entertaining. I find the part where all of the children are freaking out and there is just that one having a mental breakdown on the bed (or maybe just being possessed and all) and they all kinda turn on eachother while simultaneously repeating that they didn’t even do anything wrong and they all need to keep to the same story. Kind of controversial, right? Anyway, character analysis, Amalia is kinda super young, and the man she hits on is old and married, so my guess is that she is evil or something, you know? I firmly enjoyed, while I was also creeped out a bit, that the cursed child started screaming the moment the priests started singing the gospel. This is kinda just ,y view of the story so far.
This first act introduced a large quantity of the only characters we’re going to get in this story, while also presenting most of the conflicts that will inevitably lead to the rising actions and the climax in the story to try and resolve these issues. One of the first conflicts in this book is the mystery of the sick girl. She and some other children were all running rampid in the forest doing god knows what with witchcraft and all sorts of things that the innocent people in the village cannot yet prove, they can only speculate and through information together, for now. The there is Amailia that really wants a married man, especially the one who she previously had wrapped around her finger, and NOW we got some of the children pointing out some people they witnessed with the devil himself in that same forest! (Though to spread the scandal you must be in it, am I right?) Now we will witness the fate of those pointed out and All and all, the conflicts are interesting enough that I’m very excited to see what comes next in the second act!
Behind The Scenes
ReplyDeleteIn act two, there’s a lot of tension between everyone involved in the situation. The feeling of guilt, scared, and hope. Little by little, we are finding out many hidden secrets that Proctor and Abigial. By reading this act, I wanted to talk about the theme in this act. Proctor is feeling a little tension when his wife is asking him to testify for Abigial. I believe the guilt is truly living upon Proctor. Throughout the act, the wife is really on Proctor because she does not believe what he says because she knows he was in a room alone with Abigial. And we all know, something happened with Abigial and Proctor. Later, he felt like he is constantly being judged by his wife. With that said, I feel like that guilt is what is causing him to feel this way. He wants to live in his house without feeling like he is constantly being judged or being in a sort of “courtroom”. He wants it to stop because he feels like he is a step closer to letting the secret to come out. Not only is there tension with the married couple, there’s more tension with the warrant for Elizabeth and Mary. Finding out she gave to Elizabeth with a needle. With all I’ve said, I feel like in this act there’s a lot of theme, but guilt and hidden secrets are the main two that I was looking at during this act. Guilt played an important role for Proctor. Like I’ve said before, throughout the act, his wife is pressuring him to testify but all he is doing is trying to cover all that happened. His guilt is pushing him because he is getting tired of everything that his wife is triggering him to do. Secondly, hidden secrets also played an important role in the scene for Elizabeth and Mary. They had a warrant for her arrest. Asked her if she owned a doll but they end up finding it and even with a needle in it. Caused a lot of tension with the people. The secrets have been hidden and little by little, people are getting caught with some sort of witchcraft. Hidden secrets and guilt, what other feeling or secrets will be revealed.
Saint or Not
In act three, religion had a lot to do with judgement of the Proctor when he enterned the courtroom. The Puritans have a big belief of believing in God and going to church. Which is something Proctor didn’t do. It’s crazy to know hat at this time, many saw if you don’t attend church you are in some sort of trouble. Beside the religion involvement in this act. I wanted to mentioned tone. The author did a good job mentioned the tone and tensions between Proctor and finding out that Elizabeth is pregnant. It creates this bold tone with wanting to know what’s next.
Abigail is truly malicious with pinning all of the blame for the mysterious activity in the woods on Tibita. Right of the gun she is obviously an easy target for being a slave, and because Abigail seemed to “confess” she looked at less harshly and made Tibita seem very guilty. They were both arrested for witchcraft unfortunately which is under very loose claims, and it starts a chain effect of just bad things. Salem ends up being torn apart by this because it raises so many questions, how could this happen, why weren’t the children protected, why was nothing being done to stop this before it happened? Their puritain ways are being pushed to the test with all of the hysteria going on and Reverend Hale is trying to keep them intact and to achieve this he is determined to rid Salem of all witches and witchcraft and to do this, he would have a witch hunt and get rid of every single one. To achieve this they decide to start up a witch hunt which is bad news for someone who is even slightly suspicious. For example, Martha, Giles Wife, was found suspicious because she was reading books behind Giles back and this made Reverend Hale convinced that she was indulging in Witchcraft. The outcome of the girls accused is sort of backwards because they gain authority from being the accused, especially Tibita who would prove to have almost zero authority before being accused, but after has more power than ever before. She can say things without being punished and uses this power to make many accusations that very well would have gotten her in grave danger before.
ReplyDeleteThe Crucible by Arthur Miller is based in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials. The town is run by Puritan beliefs. The story starts off very slow, the first few pages a mostly just background which are fairly slow to read. But in this slow section we find out that the daughter of Reverend Paris, Betty Paris has fallen into a mysterious comma after her father found her, his slaves and some other girls dancing in the woods. Being as this is in Salem and the witch trials are a large part of their society the fact that his daughter was in a coma after being found dancing with a slave and some other girls causes suspicion. The girls who are still conscious are questioned and accused of attempting to conjure spirits in the woods. One of the girls that the story concentrates on during the questioning is Titbua, the Reverend's slave. Even from the beginning though, you can see how Paris's treatment of Tituba reveals his inner anger and selfishness. You can also see Tituba's powerlessness when she attempts to ask if Betty will be alright and Paris yells at her to leave the room.
ReplyDeleteAidan Reitz
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