Wednesday, September 29, 2010

If Arthur Miller could whisper to us from the grave...

Imagine the ghost of Arthur Miller entering our humble classroom of C-15...Don't worry--he's not gory or scary or anything. He looks like a nice, old man. He's just here to warn us.

What specific warning or warnings would Miller whisper to us if he could? In other words, what social criticism does The Crucible have to offer? What are the Puritans' most pressing issues, and how can we avoid their fate? EXPLAIN YOUR THINKING USING AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE FROM THE PLAY.

As always, please proofread for grammar and spelling before you post.

22 comments:

  1. I think he would say that in situations when fear and choas happen to have a clear mind and think logicaly, which the puritans did not due when it happened to them. Also to still trust your friends, familiy and neighbors and a strong community will overcome the fear and chaos. Salem broke apart as a community due to fear of whitches and chaos was the result.

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  2. I think Miller would say that we should not be afraid to accept guilt and responsiblity. In the biginnig of the book when all the girls were out in the woods dancing and then Parris caught them, all they needed to do is say is the truth which was they were out in the woods dancing and saying who they liked. If they told the truth in the first place then I think the whole witch thing could have been averted.

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  3. Miller would warn us that it is important to stay true to what you know and who you are even in the face of fear. In Salem people began to turn on their neighbors and lie about themselves in order to attempt to save their own life. If the community had banded together and not been so quick to suspect eachother then maybe they would have had a chance against the chaos. There were a few people such as Proctor, Corey and Francis Nurse that attempted to take a stand against the hangings, but to much of the town had already been caught up in the band wagon of blaming eachother. But just because everyone is doing it or beleives it doesn't mean it is true. I once heard an anonomous quote that said "if a thousand people do a stupid thing it is still a stupid thing." I think that Miller would want to warn us of following society too quickly. instead maybe we should take a step back and see if it lines up with what we already believe.

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  4. I completely agree with EmilyK that Miller would warn us to be true to ourselves even in the face of fear. When people are in fear they do things spontaneously without thinking through the consequences and do things or say things that they normally would not. Fear is a dangerous tool that can lead people to do terrible things. Its like a drug, fear leads people down such a horrible path that they get stuck and cant get themselves out of the mess. For example, Abigail was in such fear of getting caught attempting to use witchcraft to murder Elizabeth Proctor that fear led her to begin blaming everyone and pretending to see demons. Fear just led her into a deeper hole that she cannot escape.

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  5. I think that Miller would warn us to take responsibilty for our actions. Rather than blame someone else to get yourself out of trouble act like Proctor and say you saw NO ONE with the devil. Also, he would tell us to be original and not follow the crowd. When one girl started acting hysterical, so did everyone else even if it was an act. He would tell us to think and act for ourselves no matter how scared we may be.

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  6. I think that Miller would say that we should not fall into peer-pressure and join things that we don't fully understand. In the book, when the girls started to blame everyone of witchcraft for something that they did by themselves(dancing in the woods)they came up with such a original and believable story that everyone just assumed that they where telling the truth. Kind of how we do things in this day and age of how the most dramatic or exotic story gets more attention than what is really important. Well in Salem the same thing happened which means that culturally we haven't changed and that is what Miller would be warning us about.

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  7. I think he would have told us all never to act and judge so quickly. When things start moving so fast you start to lose touch with whats right and whats just out right wrong. At the end of the play when john is about to be hung the towns people aren't cheering like they were before. There quiet and look like they knew something was wrong. Sometimes you just need to breathe and look at the situation from a different perspective.

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  8. I think he would tell us that we need to accept guilt and know that their our consequences for our actions. The puritans knew that if you did wrong there was a a consequence and their was no way to avoid it. In the book John Proctor had an affair will Abigail Williams which caused him to face his actions. They did not tolerate this and thought he was bewitched because of it and he was hung along with Elizabeth because of his actions. He accepted this and didn't want his name to be there for everyone to see.

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  9. Miller would tell us that don't cheat on your girl, and if you do cheat on your girl don't cheat on them with a girl named Abigail Williams she's crazy or we need to take drew carry off the price is right he is awful but he would also tell us that we need to face our fear like most of the people above me are saying and to take responsibility for your actions oh another. like how proctor kept his name and told them he didn't see the devil just for his name so he faced his fear of death in a sort of way

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  10. Miller would warn us to always stand up for what we believe in. No matter the social rejection, popular disagreement, or peer pressure, your personal beliefs should never be given up on. Once one person gives up, it makes it easier for others to. Everyone could be convinced of a lie because so many people have already given in to it. The biggest conflict is to stand up for what you believe in even if it gets you punished, or to give into a lie you don't believe to save yourself. In the play, John Proctor faces this conflict as a matter of life and death. He wants to stand for the truth but his refusal to "admit" to witchcraft will get him hanged. In order to save his life he would have to completely oppose his beliefs. He could live a lie or die for the truth. Our beliefs are what makes us who we are so giving up on those is giving up ourselves.

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  11. I think Miller would warn us about how fear and how it can get carried away in a community and turn on everyone. For example in his book when fear of witch craft in the community starts to grow bigger. and everyone tries to shift blame onto others from there selves. He would warn us to control fear and not let it get away from us and destroy us like in The Crucible how fear destroys their community.

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  12. I think Miller would tell us to stand up for what we think is right and to not fall to peer presser. Like Towards the end of the Crucible John Proctor sacrifices himself to keep his name clean even though everyone is telling him to admit to being a witch. He could have lived his life having people know that “he was a witch" and a Letcher. So the only way to stand up for what he believed in was to admit to “being at witch" and suffer the consequences.

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  13. I think that if Miller came to warn us it would be to keep our integrity. No matter what the situation do what you know is right even if its the harder choice. Like Corey, we should be honest and responsible until we die. It's not a matter of pride, it's what must be done to break the chain of fear and blame that held the community at each others throats. Proctor is also a good example although he is only human and gave in to the temptation of adultery he stood up to the high court in an attempt to correct his mistakes and save his wife but by doing so he convicts Abigail whom would of course shift the conviction to another once again, like so many people do in our society.

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  14. I think Miller would say that a society "is like an onion" (Shrek) when you peel back the layers more and more, the odors become more recognizable to all your senses. Such as sight, your eyes will burn and begin to water. A person can blame the watering of the eyes on the onion. This could be brought back to many situations in the play but mainly towards the scene when a pin was found lodged into Abigail’s stomach and as well as Elizabeth Proctors doll. The burning eyes represent some situation that a person can cause on their own terms, but could as well blame on another person/object, such as the onion. The onions layers also represents a society as a whole, if you peel back the layers long enough you eventually end up with nothing but a mess of onion layers all over the place. This process could be related back to the society in "The Crucible". The more the people blamed and scattered names around, the fewer and fewer citizens were left in the city and the fewer people there were to "stink up" Salem. The only way we can avoid the same fate as the poor Puritans that died during those repressive times, is to bring trust and humbleness back into the equation which is our onion shaped society.

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  15. I think that Miller would say that we need to see both sides of a situation before jumping to conclusions. In The Crucible, the judges are hearing both sides of the situation but not really listening to the people who are telling the truth. This leads to the false accusations and the chase after an invisible demon. I also think that he would have to say that we as individuals need to strive to be honest people who act with dignity. This is apparent in the last act when John Proctor decides to break the chains of lies woven in Salem and speak the truth to save others. As a result he was hung, but he decided to be honest and break the pattern of lies so he could feel that he did the right thing.

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  16. I think Miller would tell us to take responsibility for our actions and keep your family, friends, and neighbors close. In the town of Salem the girls would not take responsibilty for what they did and kept lying that there was witches about, causing the whole town to mistrust eachother, that lead to a lot of deaths. We can avoid this fate if we think logically and look for honesty in people instead of looking for the lies.

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  17. There are many things Arthur Miller would warn us of if he was still alive today. He would warn us not to force a confession out of anyone, because most people are willing to say anything and accept the consequences if the consequence for telling the truth is more severe. In example, when Tituba is beaten repeatedly until she confesses to being a witch and seeing the devil, when all she was really doing was making a love potion and dancing with the girls, a questionable but mainly innocent activity gone wrong. He also would warn us to question people by themselves otherwise they get pressured into telling the story that someone else wants them to.

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  18. I think the major thing arthur miller would warn us about is to think for yourself. In times of fear people panic and think or do things that they wouldnt normally do. Especially if some one is surrounded by other people in a panic, it would be better to think for yourself then panic like others.

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  19. I think Arthur Miller would encourage us to think clearly and logically in situaations of chaos. A big factor in the crucible is the mob effect, where the accusations start to gain momentum and everyone in the town believes in witches despite no proof at all beside one word against another. Arthur Miller would probably tell us to avoid the mob affect by clearly analyzing the situation before we make important decisions.

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  20. There are several things that Arthur Miller would warn us about if he were able to come to our classroom. Although Miller was a man full of knowledge and wisodm I believe the main message he was trying to give in the Crucible was that you should always stand up for what you believe in. We are told all the time to stay true to ourselves and that integrity is an important quality to have, but it seems that in a Puritan society duplication will get you further in life. Near the end of the book we not only see how people are willing to sell each other out,but also how quickly they are able to go against what they believe in just to save themselves. In act 3 Mary Warren falls victim to going against what she knows is right when all the other Salem girls begin to gang up on her. Instead of staying strong and helping the innocent Mr. Proctor Mary chooses to save herself. Throughout the play Proctor stuck by his beliefs and was eventually hung for doing so.

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  21. Miller would tell us that death is not the end; but in fact only the begining. Once the fist witchs were exacuted the whole thing should of benn over. But then new witchs apeared. Out of the lifeless corpsess lucifers second army arises to bring the distruction of the puritians. What Miller is saying is that humans are sadistic and with others will kill and kill again. We need to be carfull of our actions and our belifes or well have another hunt on our hands and the deaths may be uncountible.

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  22. I think Miller would tell us is that we should stand up for what we believe in and try to face our fears. In the Crucible Miller shows that they have a fear of going to be with the devil when they die. Miller also shows at the end that you should stand up for what you believe in because then you wouldn't be living a lie. John Proctor was an example of standing for what you believe in because he wouldn't admit to being a witch when he knew he wasn't, so he stayed with his truth and died cause of it.

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