Belonging Crucible
Belonging Essay
All individuals unmistakably experience a sense of belonging in a multifaceted and convoluted process. Arthur Miller's play “The Crucible” and George Clooney's film “Good Night and Good Luck” are both texts where acceptance into society is explored in characters through various and complex measures. While the play and film both illustrate the complexities of assimilation into society to an individual's identity the Crucible further presents this as an ironic situation as people are pressured into conforming to societal desires, where choosing to detach from community values leads to a detrimental fate.
The Crucible examines the exploitation of an individual by the power of coercion in society. The play is set in 1692 and it reflects the Salem witch Trials of that time contrasted with McCarthyism in the time of Miller. It depicts the Puritan characters where they are faced with choosing between binary oppositions as 'a person is either with this court or...counted against it, there be no road between”. Miller also adopts patois and archaic language to distance responders from the context and events, so as to critically analyse the conflict within character relations. Abigail is one character who has been exploited into conforming to society. She is dishonest and manipulative as on the occasion of the forest events. She exploited Tituba to act as the scapegoat through her use of contextual references voiced through vivid imagery, “I see the face of Lucifer, your face and mine”, overriding the pleading tone of the Barbados woman. She has also been able to avoid detection of her sinful behaviour, which was achieved by her and the other girls using repetitive histrionics, “I want to open myself!... I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!...” The responder clearly can see how Abigail has been pressured into conforming to her community as she uses uncomprehendable methods in order for her to survive.
The Crucible
All individuals unmistakably experience a sense of belonging in a multifaceted and convoluted process. Arthur Miller's play “The Crucible” and George Clooney's film “Good Night and Good Luck” are both texts where acceptance into society is explored in characters through various and complex measures. While the play and film both illustrate the complexities of assimilation into society to an individual's identity the Crucible further presents this as an ironic situation as people are pressured into conforming to societal desires, where choosing to detach from community values leads to a detrimental fate.
The Crucible examines the exploitation of an individual by the power of coercion in society. The play is set in 1692 and it reflects the Salem witch Trials of that time contrasted with McCarthyism in the time of Miller. It depicts the Puritan characters where they are faced with choosing between binary oppositions as 'a person is either with this court or...counted against it, there be no road between”. Miller also adopts patois and archaic language to distance responders from the context and events, so as to critically analyse the conflict within character relations. Abigail is one character who has been exploited into conforming to society. She is dishonest and manipulative as on the occasion of the forest events. She exploited Tituba to act as the scapegoat through her use of contextual references voiced through vivid imagery, “I see the face of Lucifer, your face and mine”, overriding the pleading tone of the Barbados woman. She has also been able to avoid detection of her sinful behaviour, which was achieved by her and the other girls using repetitive histrionics, “I want to open myself!... I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!...” The responder clearly can see how Abigail has been pressured into conforming to her community as she uses uncomprehendable methods in order for her to survive.
The Crucible