Belonging - The crucible and Mean Girls

Belonging has a very strong impact on not only yourself but the people surrounding you. Some people feel the need to belong so strongly because of the attitudes of others and as a result people can change in negative ways driving them into negative situations. ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller and ‘Mean girls’ by Mark Waters, both explore the negative impacts caused by the need to belong so strongly.
In ‘The Crucible’, Arthur Miller explores the key idea of belonging through the characters and the community of Salem. Salem was a community of a very religious upbringing and a very strict standard of living. This play was set in the 1950s and during this period there was a lot of talk and rumour about witchcraft. Arthur Miller used this play as a hidden irony of the cold war that was happening around the same time Arthur constructed this play. He wanted people to be aware of the cold war and McCarthysim, so he used this play.
Proctor is a character that is highly respected by the community, but his choices led him into a negative situation, such as the affair with Abigail and because of this he had to fight against the court and the community for what he believed. He gets so angry and fustarted with Abigail accusing him and his wife Elizebeth of witchcraft that he takes her to court and fights against her. “It (Abigail) is a whore!” The dialog here symbolises proctors frustration towards Abigail by calling her a whore. Beacause of Abigials decision to sleep with proctor just to feel the need to belong had impacted on Proctor so negatively, therefore the need to belong can have a negative impact on others.