The Crucible Act 3

As humans, we all react to situations differently because no two people are exactly alike and think exactly alike. We call this a fact of human nature. At the same time, however, there a few major reactions and observations that people make and generalize to create something called human nature. There are positive and negative forms of human nature in which people do. Sometimes things that are in our nature are not good things, such as some of the events that are occurring in The Crucible during Act III.

Throughout the witch trials, the husbands are all trying to defend their wives (Miller III). That is human nature. You protect what is yours and what you love. That would be considered positive human nature, in my opinion, because you are trying to help someone. Also in Act III, Proctor defends himself (Miller 117).  Proctor was defending himself because that is just what us humans do. When someone wrongly accuses you, you tend to defend yourself. I think if you do not defend yourself, then you are just a coward. But in the case of some of the women in The Crucible, they started to believe that they were actually possessed by the devil (Miller 79). That is also human nature. When you hear something so much, you start to believe it. Even though you may have initially denied it, once it is said so much, it makes you question it yourself. Human nature that we think of today is essentially the positive kind, and that makes sense. We do not fault ourselves, so going along with human nature, we do not think that we do any wrong.

Although we think of the more positive side of human nature, there are definitely plenty on the negative side too. In The Crucible, Abigail is the definition of negative human nature. She is only trying to save her butt, but in doing that, she has to lie. She has accused so many innocent women of doing wrong that there is no way she could take it back (Miller 48). That is definitely a form of negative human nature. Once you are in so deep, it is hard to turn back the right way. Mary Warren also shows some negative human nature qualities before she became an honest person and confessed that she and the rest of the girls had been lying about everything that they saw (Miller 102).  But when very few people believe her and Abigail keeps denying the whole thing, Mary becomes so overwhelmed. She lowers herself to the rest of the girls, and she accuses Proctor of being of the devil (Miller 118). Throughout all of The Crucible, negative human nature is also prominent.

     Overall, human nature is human nature. That is the best way to put it. Everyone is a human being and with that comes the fact of human nature. It is what we do. We use our instincts, we act the same way given different situations and cannot change that. Human nature is both negative and positive in a sense, although most people do not really recognize the negative side of it. Human nature is in everyone, even if they do not think it is.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: a Play in Four Acts. Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin, 1976. Print.   
 

Journal #6

The act of Blaming someone for something that they did not do, is never ever right. If you are trying to cover up for someone else or even yourself, the lie will come back almost for sure bite you in the bottom. When you blame someone else you get them into trouble and a bad situation that they did not deserve. They had not done anything wrong until you decided to blame them for something. After the blame is placed on them they try and say "It was not me!" But no one ever believes them, because they believe that the accuser, also known as you, blamed the right person who did the crime. And most likely unless you are found out, that person will receive the consequences that were not meant for them, but you. Most of the time when someone blames somebody else they will lie. And once they lie once, it is very easy to keep adding onto the lie and blaming others, or adding to the blame of the person. Then after a while all the lies become too much, and someone will find them out. This is exactly what Abigail is doing in the play, The Crucible, that were are currently reading in class. Sooner or later they townspeople are bound to figure out that she is just throwing out names to take the blame of the crime off her. Abigail will then receive a far worse punishment then she would have received if she would have just confessed in the very beginning. Also, she could have the blood of the accused witches who were hung on her hands, because she had no basis for accusing them in the first place. All in all it is much simpler to just confess and take the consequence, then it is to lie and try and pin the blame on someone else. Trying this will never work, just apologize and take your punishment.

The Crucible: Act 2

According to the True Colors test we took in class, every person can be summed up in one out of four color personalities. The characters of The Crucible are no exception. Personality traits such as the thinker, doer, planner, and helper can be used to describe almost everyone. Relating these character traits to the characters in the Crucible can help us better understand them.

John Proctor, popular in Act Two for his affair with Abigail Williams, is a very strong example of a gold personality (planner). He was a proud man and worked hard to keep himself good in name. He was accused of doing bad things with Abigail and later admitted to them. He told his wife, "I should have roared you down when first you told me your suspicion. But I wilted, and, like a Christian, I confessed. Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day. But you're not, you're not, and let you remember it! Let you took sometimes for the goodness in me, and judge me not (Miller 55)." After all of the wrong that he did, John continued to try to keep his family together. Gold personalities are very power oriented and show leaership, so I think John fits nicely into the category (Lowry Online).

The next color of the four personality types is green. Knowing that green (thinker) describes a clever, research oriented person, I think Reverend Hale suits the color best (Lowry Online). He served as the peace maker for the novel. John and Elizabeth Proctor called upon Hale to help them end their marriage issues. He acted as a judge hearing both sides and making conclusions. He also spent a lot of time in search of the witches. His Christian ways caused him to examine Betty for witchcraft as if she was a science experiment. The reverend was nosy and very interesed into the religious views of the Proctor's, and he encouraged the community to testify in the witchcraft case.

The next category is blue (helper), which portrays an emotional, romantic character (Lowry Online). Out of the characters in The Crucible, I would choose Elizabeth Proctor as a blue personality. She stands up for herself against her husband, John. She tries to come off as being tough during their argument, but is really emotional through the entire thing. A similar situation happened when she was being arrested. She tried to be tough through it, but the narrator admits that there were tears in her eyes.

Finally, we have a yellow personality (doer). I am picking Abigail Williams for this group becuase she is a free spirit and does what she wants. She's a liar and looked down upon in the religion based society becuase of her wrong actions. Although she knows she is disrespected, Abigail continues to do what she wants.

Knowing the True Colors personality traits can help us better understand the characters in the Crucible. The four traits make the characters easier to understand and relate to. They also provide a basis to look for when analyzing the characters actions. 

Lowry, Don. "True Colors." True-colors.com. True Colors International. Web. 11 Sept. 2011.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY. Penguin, 1976. Print.

Journal #5

I think that 21st century punishments are a good, fair idea. Before technology became such a part of everyday lives, just keeping kids stuck in their room was a punishment because they had no way to contact or interact with their friends or other fun things. Now when kids are grounded or sent to their room, they have their cell phones, game systems, and laptops to still entertain themselves. Being sent to their room with all that technology is hardly a punishment! Most kids would rather be using their phones, laptops, or game systems then talking to their parents anyway! Good punishments in the 21st century do have to do with limiting or simply taking away the kids access to their technology. Kids and teens depend on their cell phones, and laptops to stay connected and entertain themselves. Getting them taken away really limits the teen's ability to interact with others, which what the parents want. I have an iPhone now, but before I got that, I had a separate iPod and cell phone. My parents knew that my iPod meant more to me than my cell phone did, so when I would get in trouble, I would just get my iPod taken away. A punishment like taking away the teen or kid's personal laptop, cell phone or game system teaches them to maybe read a book, or play with other non-electronic things. Parents want their kids to be able to function in the real world, without the help of electronics, and that is why they punish kids the way they do. As I get older, instead of getting my phone or iPod taken away, I will get my car keys taken away. It has not happened yet, but getting my keys taken away would be a terrible punishment. I really enjoy driving, and I like being able to depend on myself to get places. After receiving my license, I think that it is kind of embarrassing to have my parents drive me anywhere. These are all good examples of a fair 21st century punishment.

The Crucible: Puritan Writings

The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the famous Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials occurred during the late sixteenth century, and many "witches" were hung during this time. Salem was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony which was founded as a haven for Puritans to practice their beliefs separate from the Church of England. In regards to the other towns of the Massachusetts Bay colony, Salem was run pretty similar. The church in Salem is what the town mostly revolved around, and they held their meetings at a central town square. The town was governed through its religious figures, such as Reverend Samuel Parris in The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, hundreds of years after the Salem Witch Trials had started and ended. Although himself not a Puritan, Miller was able to put himself in a Puritan's place, and embody the ideas of Puritanism during the Salem Witch Trials in his writings.

As the play begins, Reverend Parris's daughter, Betty, is ill after having fainted in the woods. She was with a group of friends, and the cause of her fainting was said to be the reverend had scared her when he jumped out and surprised them. The doctor visits the reverend's house and informs him that he believes there are unnatural things, meaning witchcraft and the devil, that caused Betty's illness. As a reverend, Parris is obviously a very religious man, so he is quick to deny the doctor's conclusion. The doctor and many others of the town think that the girl's strange behavior is caused because of the Devil (Miller). The Puritan religion is strongly based off of it's religious aspects. They believed in Predestination, the providence of God, and had utmost faith in their God. Being accused of "witchcraft" and therefore fraternizing with the Devil was a terrible sin. Because of their strong faith in their religion and their god, they are quick to just assume that the girls are acting strange because of the devil. "The Devil can never overcome a minister. You know that, do you not?" (Miller 46) The Puritans believe that their ministers and other high religious people are close to God, and are not able to be corrupt, which we now know that most were back then.

Their religion gets in the way of the Puritans thinking logically about what actually happened to the girls that night. Betty and many other girls were out with Tituba, and they are dancing around while, for a reason that is not exactly clear, they drink chicken blood. Word of this got around, and everyone is filled with the idea that they are witches. With this idea and no medical diagnosis for what is wrong with Betty, they called in an expert on witchcraft. This man, Reverend Hale, tries to figure everything that had happened and come up with a reason why. It finishes off with Abigail and Betty, at this point completely awake, slandering several others as people who are in cahoots with the Devil (Miller). These girls are only trying to take the blame off themselves when they begin to give the other manes out, who probably have not done anything wrong.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: A Play in Four Acts. New York, NY: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Journal #4

In my family, we travel a lot. We go on vacations to visit family, see sights, and experience new things. My first plane ride was when I was three or four years old, going to Arizona to visit my grandparents. One of my favorite vacations that I went on was Christmas break of my freshman year. Almost my whole entire extended family traveled to Las Vegas for the week. My family, and my grandpa flew form Springfield, my uncle and aunt flew from Washington D.C., and my other aunt and uncle and his son and their new one month old baby drove over from California. This experience was so great because I was able to see all my family from different parts of the country together in one place. It was better to travel somewhere else to meet, instead of at someone's home because it is way more stress free. There is not any thing to get ready for the visit, only time to spend with your family. I have been to many states, some multiple times, and I think I has made me a better person. Traveling to many different places like Las Vegas, Washington D.C., Disney World, and Texas, shows how other parts of the country work. When my family goes on trips we try and go somewhere where we have never been or want to learn more about. I have been to both Space Centers, all the sights at Washington D.C., the Mall of America, and The Green Bay Packer Stadium, Lambeau Field.

Some people just go on trips to the beach to relax, but I like the fact that we are able to learn new things on our family vacations. It's a nice change to go somewhere else and immerse yourself in the differences of that area. Traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for example is very different then traveling to maybe Syracuse, New York. When I get older and can travel for myself I plan on going to Europe and Asia and seeing all of the wonder sights that are to be seen there. The pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, and the Coliseum are some sights that I would hopefully visit sometime in my life.

Of Pylmouth Plantation

Most writings of the early colonial era have the same Puritan ideals. In a Roman Catholic society in England, a group of religious people came to disagree with several of the leaders and teachings in the Catholic Church. They wanted to purify the Catholic religion and teach it to others.These people were soon known as the Puritans and wanted to move to America to have a free place to practice their ideals. One group of Puritans that arrived in America on the Mayflower, housed a man named William Bradford. Bradford is most well known for his writings in Of Plymouth Plantation, a journal that documents the happenings of the beginnings of the Plymouth colony. Like most other authors of the time, Bradford's writings strongly reflect of the Puritan religion.

The story that Bradford wrote proved that God was of major importance to the Puritans. God was the first one that they honored when they arrived in the new country. "Being thus arrived in a good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element (Bradford 65)." Of Plymouth Plantation also tells the tale of one man who planned on overthrowing many men on their ship the Mayflower. The man wanted to get rid of all the diseased men on the ship by throwing them overboard. In the end, the man ended up becoming very ill and being the first to die and to be thrown overboard. The Puritans blamed this entire situation on the man being evil and his death was the way God repaid him. "Thus his curses light on his own head, and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him (Bradford 15)." Religion has been used in every Puritan writing piece that we have read so far.  The people lived their lives and made decisions depending on how it would be portrayed in God's eyes.

We learn a lot about the harsh relationship between the Puritans and Indians in our history classes. The Pilgrims took over their land and pushed them out. However, Of Plymouth Plantation shows the other side of the relationship. The Puritans and Indians created a peace between them, even after all of the struggles they had. An Indian called Squanto helped join the two sides and was described as being "a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectations (Bradford 67)." He could speak English very well, so he was able to translate between the Puritans and the Indians in their exchanges. Squanto also helped the Puritans become comfortable with their new life in America. He was the one who introduced them to farming and new tools and techniques. These new ideals were the driving force in  making the Plymouth colony succeed.

Bradford, William. "Of Plymouth Plantation." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 64-67. Print.