Aruther Miller's imagery used in The Crucible actually represents a comparison to "The Red Scare" which took place in the 1950's. There are many other events that have taken place throughout our American history that could also be used as a relevant example of a metaphor to The Crucible. In my opinion 9/11 is a notable example to Arthur Miller's striking imagery used in his play. Both the Salem Witch Trials and 9/11 hysteria began with a main base. The Salem Witch Trials instigated when the girls were caught dancing by Parris and Betty fell sick. 9/11 began of course with the destruction of the two twin towers by a terrorist attack. The aftermath of both situations concluded with mass hysteria. Within the time period derived around the Salem Witch Trials many people were afraid of witches putting an attack on them, or they were afraid that they might in fact be blamed as witch. 9/11, on the otherhand, struck people hard by the negative result put on our country. Terrorist attacks were common factors for years after and fear was wiped across many people's faces. The security in airports was increased tremendously to where people soon found no interest in flying anymore or they were afraid that another tragedy like 9/11 would occur again. Threats were factors of both time periods. If you were non-religious in the Puritan community or you didn't keep up with your religious duties you were automatically considered to be questionable to involvement in witchcraft. During 9/11 many people showed their prejudice side by easily judging a person's religious background or ethnicity. Having an Arab ethnicity or an Islamic religious background made many innocent people condemed as being a terrorist. The highest authority also derived the public opinion to that of the Salem (during the Salem Witch Trials) and the U.S.A (during 9/11) to make people believe that either they were being afflicted by witches or they were being attacked by a mass amount of terrorists from other countries (mainly in the Middle East). Altogether the comparison between the Salem Witch Trials and 9/11 are equivalent on many terms.

Examples of how Guilt and Revenge are Presented Thematically, and what Effects they have on the Characters

Throughout the play there are several major themes located in The Crucible; how fear and suspicion are infectious and can turn in to mass hysteria, and the destructive powers of guilt and revenge. From previous passages located in Act IV examples of guilt and revenge are present in many major characters. Reverend Hale realizes throughout Act III into Act IV that he has had a misconception of people throughout Salem, and he has also judged them too harshly. During the end of Act IV he is striving to save as many lives as he can by going door to door asking the accused to give into terms of witchcraft so they can only suffer jailtime in the longrun. He also realizes that the girls have been misjudged and they are faking their emotions. Reverend Parris is equivalent to Reverend Hale by the amount of guilt he portrays within Act IV. When Parris finds out that Abigail has stolen his money and ran away he comes to terms that the situation was a hoax carried out by his own niece. Later, he acts just as Hale, trying to save as many of the accused as he can including Proctor. Elizabeth Proctor shows guilt towards John in Act IV. She is sympathetic to why John actually committed adultery and apologizes for not being as good of a wife as she should have been. Proctor, on the otherhand, also has guilt for committing adultery, but you can also sense some revenge within his character towards the end of Act IV. When John is offered a chance to save his own life he considers the offer, but later he realizes that his own name is more important than a lie that would save his life. He does not want to be a bad example to those in his town or to his sons. Proctor's revenge is used as a punishment in a way to those located within the court who wanted to save his life in the end, but in the beginning they were actually the ones who decided his terms of death. Lastly, Abigail Williams has provided enough revenge all the way up to Act IV to which guilt finally emerges. Once guilt overtakes her and she realizes that she has caused a mass hysteria her solution to the problem that she has caused is to run away. This is why many of the characters throughout The Crucible recreate a sense of both guilt and revenge througout Act IV.

Two Word Phrase that Represents Dramatic Irony to the Reader and Verbal Irony when Mary Warren turns on Proctor

During Act III Mary Warren strikes against Proctor before she suffers an accusation against witchcraft. In the quotations that are provided there is both dramatic and verbal irony that the reader can identify. The two word phrase that represent dramatic irony is when Abigial is said to reach out to Mary Warren with "infinite charity". The reader knows that Abigail is not generous and puts forth no such infinite charity to anyone. She threatens each girl to not say anything or she will otherwise kill them in the outmost worse way. Although she makes an act that brings about a charitable sense of emotion to the people of Salem we know that she is not a good person. Also located within the quotations is an immense amount of verbal irony. Mary Warren tries to turn the table on Proctor by saying that she does not go his way anymore. Proctor, in reality, never forced Mary Warren to sign a paper concluding what she would say to the courts nor has he abusively forced her to do anything. Also, Mary may love God but she does not execute to a woman of religious standards when she is pointing fingers at innocent people. We know that she is exactly like the rest of the girls; just putting on an act. Everyone else is wildy intrigued by the statement Mary Warren makes and is accustomed to automatically believe that she is innocent and being afflicted and tortured by John Proctor. These quotations provide great detail to allow a reader to carry out both verbal and dramatic irony.

Dramatic Irony in Elizabeth’s Testimony Concerning why she Expelled Abigail from her home

Why did Elizabeth actually expell Abigail from her services? Although John Proctor admitted to his crime of adultery Judge Danforth and other members of the court questioned his actual response. They believed that in order to save his wife he was trying to overthrow the court and say that he had committed an awful crime instead. In order to plea his case he assured Judge Danforth that Elizabeth would tell the truth because she does not lie. As Judge Danforth questioned Elizabeth for her decisions something went wrong; Elizabeth actually lied. The dramatic irony that comes out of this situation is that in the beginning John reassured the court that Elizabeth is not the kind to lie, and she never has in her life. Once questioned to why she actually dismissed Abigail in the first place Elizabeth lies. Although she thinks that she is saving John's life, in reality, she is further causing harm to both of their lives. This is why Elizabeth's testimony is related to being dramatic irony.

The Crucible Act III represents a logical fallacy through the dialogue of Judge Danforth

During Act III Judge Danforth's dialogue represents a fallacy, or an argument that appears logical though it is based on a completely false premise. Through his dialogue he brings up certain points at which he makes good contact of contradicting himself. "Witchcraft is an invisible crime.", how is it possible to make such a statement when clearly there are people accusing others of a crime? So called "afflicted" girls follow through with potraying a scene of affliction supposively carried out by the accused witch. The charge of witchcraft being an invisible crime is not accurate in this case. If the harm done by a witch is present to an afflicted person how is it noted to an "invisible" crime? "The witch won't accuse themselves.", certainly not unless you have a court that reflects, regards, and surrounds themselves based upon terms of a confession or suffer the consequences of being hanged. If those accused do follow through with a confession they would only serve jailtime. Therefore, of course, no one is eager to confess unless they are willing to risk their lives. Judge Danforth made an excellent job of contradicing himself with his fallacy in the dialogue noted in Act III.

Reverend Hale finds himself at a philosophical and religious fork in the road

In Act II Reverend Hale begins to open his eyes to another realm of this hysteria. While many people are being accused of witchery by the destructive clan of afflicted girls Reverend Hale begins to question both philosophical and religious demeanors of this crazed village. Good reputations are questioned for witchcraft including Goody Good, Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey, Goody Corey, and even Elizabeth Proctor. The unexpected accusations of those good-hearted men and women exposes Hale to a philosophical fork; how could it be possible for good-natured people to carry out vicious accusations of witchcraft? Is it really possible that they themselves being notorious for good reputaions their whole lives to actually conjure up spirits? On the otherhand Hale finds himself stuck at a religious fork in the road. Referring to the scene in Act II it is notionable to why Hale visits the Proctor's. He does not come to only warn them of the charge planted over Elizabeth by Abigail Williams, but also to question their religious beliefs to see if accusations can actually assume possibility. At that point he is stuck at a religious fork in the road. Both Proctor's are known for having good reputations throughout Salem, but an easy mistake of forgetting the commandment of adultery (how ironic) by John Proctor only makes their reputation as religious followers further questionable to Hale. You can somewhat sense the religious aspect of Hale's intent to further unwind questions in this household. The fact that Proctor does not believe in witches ("hence" witches are mentioned throughout the Bible) also makes a questionable doubt upon Hale. With both the good reputations of the people and the religious flaws of others Hale soon finds himself in confusion at the end of Act II due to philosophical and religious forks in the road.

Ezekiel Cheever is a good representation of the average American.

Cheever proves to be a major character throughout most of Act II. He is symbolic to all of us as Americans for the simple fact that he bases everything that he believes solely on what he sees. When Elizabeth was faced with accusations about maintaining witchcraft items in her household although she said that she did not have any Cheever seeked out to find something. Achieving his goal of finding evidence, a poppet, automatically assured factual proof that Elizabeth was most certainly an avid user of witchcraft. Cheever didn't ask questions to what the poppet was about, he was just as quick to accuse Elizabeth as being a witch as he was in the first place assuming her to be one. We as Americans on the otherhand believe mainly everything we see. For instance with global warming; just because there is a crack in a glacier does not essentially mean global warming is happening. Rather than question that we simply assume that the answer is what we see out in the open. We have no tactics to debate with things in life, what we see is what we believe, and what we believe is what we see, no questions asked. This is why Cheever achieves the representation of the average American today.

Parris's scramble to save face relevant to the 21st century.

Not many people in the play appreciate or approve of the reverend Parris. Parris tries to save face several times throughout the novel which has a few relevant features that relate to our 21st century. To begin, when being accused of dancing in the woods with Tituba, Abigail and the girls deny dancing with the devil. Although Parris knows what he had witnessed he denies the fact that the girls may have been dancing with the devi. He relates to our 21st century immensely because we often disregard believing in things that we see. We know that Parris earlier in the play had actually witnessed the girls dancing naked in the woods. Although Parris himself knows what he saw he ignores the fact that it is real or actually happened. His reputation proves to be of much importance rather than the actual truth. Self-consciousness surrounds his daily life which makes him to be "numero uno" in his own mind (frequently thinks of his own interests rather than those of the congregation or in fact his own family). He shows signs of how, we, as Americans are today. We are surrounded by approval and disapproval and rather than not care how others view us we lie to make ourselves look better. We neglect the truth as much as it may make the situation better. "The truth hurts" is in fact a relevant quote for this material. During Act IV of the play Parris tries to save face again by begging Proctor to sign the paper agreeing to the terms of using witchcraft. He not only does this to Proctor but to others that are jailed. Parris realizes the disturbances that has been caused due to the outbreak that the girls and partly himself have created. This also is relevant to us today in the 21st century. When faced with the fact that we have actually done something wrong we try to save ourselves to sort of "undue the problem." So in the end Parris trying to save face throughout the play relates greatly to the 21st century because he represents the state of oblivion that we as people today are in.

John and Elizabeth Proctor's relationship in Act II

John and Elizabeth Proctor's relationship changes a great deal throughout the play. During Act II you can view the negative version that is held within their relationship. Elizabeth has lost trust and faith in John ever since his little fling with Abigail. Even though John assures her that what had went on with Abigail meant nothing and it means nothing currently, Elizabeth realizes that it means more to Abigail than it ever will to John. She exclaims "a promise is made in bed" and that will never leave her mind. John on the otherhand realizes that what he has done in the past is wrong. He understands that he has hurt Elizabeth, but somehow their conversation cannot get anywhere from what has happened in the past. Both of them resort to an awkward and tense atmosphere around each other. This can almost make the reader feel like they are no longer in love. In fact, the two of them begin to realize in Act II that maybe they aren't in love anymore after all. So altogether John and Elizabeth's relationship in Act II is more or less rocky or on the verge of a breakdown.

John Proctor's quote from Act II

During Act II, Proctor makes a very important point as his wife is being taken off into prison. He quotes “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” What sense do I think that this material pertains to the play? In my opinion Proctor is speaking out to all of the accused of Salem. He is trying to make Hale understand that everyone has been and will be the same since this hysteria has hit their town. On the otherhand Hale and other common town figures including Judge Danforth think that anyone could be to blame during this hysteria. ". . . common vengeance writes the law!" basically portrays to the girls overall power in this situation. Ever since the girls gained the right to blame certain people as being witches power was put into their hands to do many other tedious and ruthless tasks that involved the common law and many innocent people's life. In the end, many people suffered and were either hanged, burned at stake, crushed to death, or jailed because of these girls and their power and the detail that lies within Proctor's quote holds the truth to this.

Characterization of Mrs. Putnam is relevant to events in the 21st century.

Mrs. Putnam automatically accuses problems based upon witchcraft. She never considers any other option as to what could possibly harm the girls or her unborn children. Mrs. Putnam's attitude and characterization shows just how oblivious we as people are. We tend to always believe what we see and only believe what we hear. Often we consider the possible facts to be impossible that of which relates to witchcraft being a factor in this case. Mrs. Putnam resembles most of us today. Her attitude shows the relevance of 9/11 and "The Red Scare" to The Crucible. During both of these hysterias people would base their beliefs solely on what they would see that of which if you matched the description then you were someone not be tolerated during this time. 9/11, on the otherhand, and terrorist attacks became an easy outlet to blame certain situations on. If there was an attack in a mall or in an airport a year or two after 9/11 a terrorist attack was sometimes an option to what occured. We as American's are very oblivious to what the truth actually is, and sometimes we just don't want to hear or see the truth because it may not be for the better. Mrs. Putnam used witchcraft as an outlet because it seemed possible. Afflicted girls were running around acting strange and Mrs. Putnam had lost her children so why not resort to witchcraft as the primary reason to their problems. Could it be that the community was slowly coming to this hysteria? Maybe there were other reasons to why Mrs. Putnam actually lost her children, and instead of looking at herself to blame witchcraft just seemed to ease her more than the truth would.

Of Mice and Men: Cruel and Merciful.

The end of the novel Of Mice and Men may have come on as a surprise to all of us, that is that George had to make a bold decision, ending Lennie's life. Whether or not this proved to be the right move to make it has two different aspects. . . being viewed as both cruel and merciful. I am quite 99.9% sure that most of us in our lifetime have had a friend that has been by our side through most of the good and the bad. You grow to know that person better than they may know themselves. As George surrounded and based his everyday lifestyle around Lennie and his needs both grew in their relationship and had gotten to know each other well. In the end, I mostly believe that this is why George's decision was cruel. Harming anyone is cruel but being someone that was close to George makes it even crueler. Then again, why would I think his decision was merciful? Whether or not George did kill Lennie, Lennie had his destiny set for him. The men were out to get Lennie no matter what. George wasn't choosing to shoot Lennie because he wanted to, but he felt that he had to. He couldn't stand there and watch Lennie, scared and in danger, by men who hardly knew him. George didn't want to see Lennie in that position. George's decision altogether can be carried out as being merciful or cruel to anyone, but each person's natural opinion is different with different points of view.

Twain's portrayal of America today in Huck Finn.

Twain's portrayal of America in Huck Finn can be described as both relevant and irrelevant to our America today. One major theme, racism, is a main focus of this novel. We can't exactly say that the racist view point in today's society is exactly the same, but there still is some racism that lingers around our society. Many people judge each other based on religious views, backgrounds, or even skin color, and that portrayal in Twain's novel relates to a certain amount. Even though the racism in this novel does focus around slavery, near the end of the novel you can see a viewpoint of how it relates to today. Although Jim was a freed slave, he was still at first judged differently when they didn't know that he was free.
Twain's novel is different from America today because of the way they portray society. Society in the novel is not civilized it is mainly controlled by selfish people. Pap, the king, and the duke can all be examples to this. They are selfish and earn things wrongfully. They do outrageous and horrible tasks to get what they want. Our society is not completely civilized, but "everyone" does not earn what they want or need wrongfully.

Crucible Act II prompt

Act II of The Crucible may be short but it is very outspoken about American aspects today. It gives many examples that can relate to our naive and misunderstood nature. For instance, the difference between a male and a female within their natural maturing rate. It is also common for people to automatically believe what they see rather than questioning what they are actually seeing. Guilt and shame also follow and revolve around our everyday lives.
In Act II, a very good point is brought up by Elizabeth, “a promise is made in bed.” Although John is over Abigail, and would rather have nothing to do with her, Abigail thinks that John loves her for what has occurred previously between the two. This can point out how the average female matures earlier than a male. Women are in tune with their feelings and when you put so much into a relationship you subject to believing that that is “true love”. Some men have a different perception to whether or not that is even love. Abigail represents many young women today, who believes what she sees at the sign of true love, as well all do with other things controlling our everyday thoughts in life.
Cheever, although short-lined, is a major character in Act II. He represents so many of us today for the simple fact that he mistakes the truth by believing in solely on what he sees. Just because you see something does not necessarily mean that it is real. There is a poppet in your house, so you are instantly questionable to being a witch. Not many like to be told what we don’t want to hear, we often avoid what can be the truth. Cheever is just like us, he knows that it is possible for the poppet being a set up, but what he sees is what he believes, and he wants to hear no part of whatever anyone else has to say. Even facts towards the respectable and good reputations of the women do not change his mind. It doesn’t matter that they are good people, he believes in what he sees, and what he sees is proof to point the finger and blame someone as a witch. Anyone can be judged during this hysteria. This resembles a certain part of our past, September 11th, 2001. Hysteria broke out after 9/11 and some people were instantly judged based upon their ethnicity. Shame revolved around our country that an act of violence could be focused towards us, and guilt and shame revolve around us everyday.
Guilt and shame can easily make us veer towards another opinion. We want to believe what people say, but when the law does not allow it or questions what we want to believe we feel guilty. In the play, Hale is stuck between the Proctor’s story to which he wants to believe and the law that surrounds their lives. He results to the saying “If they are innocent then they will be left out.” Cheever also brings up an easily miss-construed topic, religion. The town must deserve what has happened because they aren’t good Puritans. Instantly the men feel guilty, could it be their fault that this hysteria arose? Were they not being good Puritans? The men have guilt upon not carrying out proper religious tasks which make them feel like they’re not keeping to their duties. Guilt and shame can make someone feel as though they are to blame.
The Crucible Act II is a strong indicator to current American life. It pinpoints different aspects that control us everyday. Girls are more mature than guys and feel that following a promise comes love. We believe what we see everyday, and we don’t want to be questioned upon that. Guilt and shame can easily put us in our place and make us believe or think to a different concept rather than our original one. Altogether, though very short, Act II points an opinionated picture to what controls our lives and how it controls our lives.

Viewpoints towards The Crucible

Although The Crucible was written over 50 years ago it still shows relevant truth behind todays society. We still, in America, have "witch hunts", of course, though, not actual witch hunts but ones concering other important matters going on throughout the world today. Terroism, is a very big issue within America. We do hunt down terroists and that relates sort of to The Crucible, making accusations towards people based upon things that can prove a negative side. Communisim in the past was also an issue that relates to The Crucible. During the Red Scare many people were falsely accused of being a communist based upon facts that could not be proven absolutely real. So yes, I do think that The Crucible is relevant to our 21st century.