The Crucible: Act IV

This entire act felt somewhat surreal to me. Tensions felt extremely high throughout the entire chapter and I felt on edge when reading it, wondering how much misfortune would happen next. It also felt a little eerie, some may even say spooky, for several different reasons. It was unclear to me how much time had passed and when the situation escalated so out of control. The last three acts we read seemed to go perfectly in order and connect together, but this one felt out of place. I believe that adding this lost sense of time to this act added the eerie feeling to the chapter. It also is a way to not drag out scenes that happened previously and keep the readers engaged until the end of the story. If Miller had chosen to show every incident with Abigail pretending she is attacked or witches being condemned than it may have felt repetitive.

To answer Caroline’s blog post from act one, we do not like Abigail. Abigail has caused complete damage to the town of Salem and broken families and friends apart. Parris expresses great concern in this act as he tells Danforth how Abigail has disappeared and taken all his money. Parris is obviously broken in this chapter and is terrified. He has found daggers falling from his door and it petrified that he has a death wish from the townspeople, which he most likely does. Again the lack of a sense of time comes into play as Hale is brought back into the story. It is interesting to watch how when Danforth first sees Hale is welcoming and exclaims,” We are gladdened to see you return to your great work!” (Miller 119) Yet as soon as Hale asks Danforth to pardon their souls because they will not confess, he immediately gets angry again and uses the “law of god” as a rebuttal. I found this extremely ironic that he continues to use Christianity as an argument because one of the biggest lessons Christians learn is forgiveness.

Hale can not make proctor confess so he ask Elizabeth’s help. As Elizabeth helps Proctor to decide if he should confess, we hear a story about a man who would not confess, Giles. I found this story chilling to even think for a moment about the pain he was enduring. Giles was tortured to confess to the court about his parking in witchcraft. Giles refused to answer and therefore had large stones put on him. He continued to have stones piled till the weight crushed him. His last words were,” More Weight.” It was petrifying to even think about this happening to someone and made me chest ache to even think about dying in such a painful way. Hearing this story, and speaking with Elizabeth, has finally convinced him to come forward and confess.

Finally, I want to discuss the final scene where proctor is asked to confess and sign his name. I found this scene very intense and while I wanted Proctor to fight for what was a right, there was apart of me while reading this that wanted him so comply in order to save his life. I do not know that if I was put in this situation I would have to the bravery to not confess and be hung. Watching Proctor go through this scene, it almost felt like you were in his position. Proctor finally confesses but is asked to give names. He refuses which makes Danforth irritated. Danforth finally asks Proctor to sign his name. It was inspiring to watch as Proctor comes to a final realization that signing his name is betraying himself. He exclaims,”Because it is my name! Because I can not have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!” While readers at this moment feel a sense of pride for Proctor reading this and somewhat heartbroken because they know his fate, Danforth is furious. We watch as hysteria rises as he is marched out. Rebecca cries out and so does Parris and Hale. I imagine each screaming voice adds to the chaos of this moment. Reading the final drums and moments of the scene in the last line italicized help me envision how much tension there would have been watching this moment play out in the real play.

In class i would like to discuss the epilogue for those who have read it. Now that we finished the book, I would also like to make discuss how and why this book was perceived negatively during red scare and also find specific moments in the book that reminded us of the red scare. I would also like to talk about the lack of a sense a time I mentioned several times.

The Crucible: Act II

In reading Act II of The Crucible, I began to finally see the true consequences of denying allegations of witchcraft versus confessing. The connection drawn to McCarthyism throughout the 50’s is very present throughout Act II. This witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts has the town desperate to save their own lives at the exchange of condemning others. This entirely parallels McCarthyism because those who were given subpoenas knew that if they did not confess and name other involved parties, they would be blacklisted and would be thought of as American traitors. In The Crucible, Goody Osburn refused to confess and will be hanged, but on the other hand, Sarah Good confessed and will only sit in jail for some time.

Something I specifically noticed that intrigued me while reading Act II was Mary Warren’s “marvelous secret insight” that Goody Osburn tried to kill her (Miller 55). Mary Warren’s claim was that when Osburn came to beg for food, she mumbled as she turned around. The “hard proof” was that Goody Osburn stated that she was only saying her commandments, but when asked to recite the commandments, she could not. I was shocked that the court considered mumbling as evidence that Goody Osburn had a death wish for Mary Warren.

Another aspect from Act II that I found to be interesting was the newfound feeling of power Mary Warren evidently felt after arriving home from accusing Goody Osburn of attempting to kill her. When John Proctor insists that Mary Warren will not be allowed to go to court again, Mary Warren responds in a defiant way claiming that “it’s God’s work [they] do” and that “[she will] be gone every day for some time” (Miller 56). It is interesting to see Mary Warren’s sense of power because after only one day in court accusing Goody Osburn, she already feels like she has the power to control situations that she most likely felt she could not control before.

Today in class I would like to discuss the new details that have been brought up in Act II regarding Elizabeth and John Proctor’s relationship. This is the first encounter the audience has had with Elizabeth and John together and I feel it is important to discuss the dynamic of the relationship. I think that it is especially important that we discuss John’s feeling of walking into a courthouse that is his own home each day and Elizabeth’s inability to see the good in John for the past seven months. I also want to discuss the importance of John’s hatred of hypocrisy in relation to his inability to remember the last commandment that “thou shalt not commit adultery.” I am curious if he actually forgot it or if he truly could not say it out loud.

The Crucible - Act I

While reading The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, I was constantly reminded of the fact that this play was written during the 1950's while the Red Scare was a huge part of American life. I was easily able to connect aspects of the fictional townspeople to the major themes of the fear during the Cold War, like how quickly rumors and accusations were able to spread to the entire town. When Betty first wakes up long enough to enlighten the reader on what happened in the woods, she mentions something about drinking blood to curse an apparent enemy of Abigail's. Although strange to read, since witchcraft is not a normal thing in our current way of life, the idea of a young girl trying to push out a man's wife is not something extremely foreign. I found the exchange between Abby and John to be very interesting, since it was almost like something out of a current-day movie or tv show, with the cliche girl and guy with their forbidden love. 

Due to this thought, I kinda saw the rest of the play in a semi-comedic way, which when I now think about it, relates back to what Miller said in his article about the fear of Communism in the US. What happened then, and what is happening in the play now, is so horrible and unbelievable that it starts to become slightly funny. Dark humor seemed to emanate throughout the first act, which was another thing I liked, but it still could create a more serious feeling at times as well. I couldn't help but notice the ridiculousness of the townspeople coming up to the room to see Betty passed out on a bed, the priest caring more about his own reputation than about people's lives, the interaction between all the girls involved in the "dancing" (which, also, is hilarious to me for some reason), and, at the end of act 1, everyone screaming that everyone in the town is a witch. 

There was a sense of organized chaos, with everyone having hidden motives and reasons behind their actions, and I think it will be interesting to see how the rest of the play unfolds, but I would like to talk about Tituba and her role in the play. Lastly I want to make sure to talk about Abigail's character, do I like her or hate her? 

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson

In "Self-Reliance", Ralph Waldo Emerson argues that to truly be a man, one must be a nonconformist. He explains that all humans, as products of society and perception, are only reflections of each other, and it takes a man to disregard societal pressure to be self-dependent and live in truth. Nature and life must be accepted and valued in their purest forms, and his argument of why man only accepts others in their "full forms" instead of imperfect forms is something I found captivating during my reading.

Mankind dismisses the value of its own beliefs in shame and fear of how other will receive them; however, mankind swoons over the beauty of a rose: a raw, simple flower. Emerson states, "Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike" (52), describing how the past and future do not disturb the rose, it lives as life comes. This contrasts mankind, as humans look far into the past and future, neglecting the present. Emerson explains that when the mind exists in another time, it will never find truth.

Ralph Waldo Emerson evokes his readers to follow his lead in nonconformity to be in touch with their authentic soul. He states that to be happy, one must strip themselves of societal desire and focus only on what they value themselves. He encourages honesty between people, and states that safety and comfort can only be found when man finds the bravery to act on what they truly believe. When man is honest with itself, it will then be truly self-reliant. 

I hope to discuss Emerson's argument of how "society is a wave"(57) in our class discussion. 

Letter from Birmingham Jail (Zora)

While reading a "Letter from Birmingham Jail" I found a different insight to the civil rights movement. From the reading, it is easy to tell that Dr. King is responding to white church men who criticize his efforts against segregation. Dr. King's detailed descriptions of how protests and sit-ins were planned, his constant use of the rhetorical devices, and his denouncing of the white moderates and church are a few of the things about this letter that I found the most enticing.

     Before reading a "Letter from Birmingham Jail", I had not known of the amount of planning and organizing that went into protests and "direct action". Dr. King describes the four basic steps of campaign involvement: collecting facts, negotiating, self-purification, and direct action. He makes note that the white clergymen believe that he and the other black people are not being patient, are breaking laws, and are causing civic disruption. He describes the importance of negotiating and that in recent times, it has always failed. Therefore, they move on to direct action.

  Early in the letter, he states "Injustice anywhere is a threat to a justice everywhere (1)".  One of the other interesting themes expressed in the letter was the racism that triumphs Alabama and specifically the city of Birmingham. Being from the South, I think it is safe to say that we have grown up knowing that Alabama was one of the racist, if not the most racist, states in our country. But every time I learn about it, I am still shocked. Dr. King writes about the Negroes not being registered to vote, the lynchings of his black brothers and sisters, and the racism that infiltrates their justice system. He then uses pathos to engage the reader by writing about having to explain to his children why whites don't like blacks and why they are not allowed to go to amusement parks due to the color of their skin.

  The white clergyman exclaimed that the protesters were causing civic disruption and therefore should be labeled extremists. Dr. King refutes this by speaking on behalf of the non-violent protests and then writing "Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?". He uses historical examples such as Jesus, Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson to convey his point. This idea of being an extremist for love provided me with a different outlook on all types of protests as I am sure it did for the white men who were reading this at the time.

   Lastly, Dr. King's criticism of both the white moderates and the church provided me with a clearer view of the civil rights era. He expresses anger with the white moderates who agree that segregation is wrong but think that "now" is the wrong "time". He writes, "who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season" (4)". As it did to Dr. King, the white moderates also angered me more than the direct racists. He later expresses how the church has not helped in there efforts to obtain freedom from segregation.

I hope to discuss more about the church's poor effort in fighting for the rights of blacks, the racism in Birmingham, the white moderates,  and the aftermaths and effects of the "Letter from Birmingham Jail".