"Why is the accuser always considered innocent?"
The quote above, from Act II, basically sums up what my main question throughout the play was: Why did everyone believe the young, childish girls throughout the trials, while no one ever believed the accused even if they were good people known throughout the town? Since this is not a fiction play, but a play based on events that really happened in Salem, Massachusetts almost 400 years ago, I guess none of us can really analyze what Arthur Miller meant by the play or what the purpose of him making everyone believe children, rather than adults. I don't think even Arthur Miller analyzed those things while writing the play, but instead I believe that he was just trying to accurately portray what happened during The Salem Witch Trials, while still making it entertaining for the audience. With that said, I think that the point of reading this play was to try and understand what we would do if we were in a similar situation as the people of Salem were in, in 1692, and also to try and understand the reason behind their ways of thinking.
I honestly don't believe there was anything close to witchcraft going on in Salem during the witch trials, but instead a group of young girls bored with their everyday lives and a town that was also so bored with their everyday lives, that they would believe anything just to be entertained for a little while. This is shown when during town meetings the so-called "bewitched" girls would fall into fits the entire town would break into hysteria and some even began falling into fits like the girls. The townspeople would "believe" there was witchcraft going on in the town until they were the ones on trial for doing the witchcraft, and then they would suddenly say that the girls were lying and there was no witchcraft going on. The ones who didn't believe in witchcraft from the beginning of the trials would all of the sudden say they were bewitched when they were on trial for bewitching the girls. To me, none of it makes sense, which leads me to the conclusion that the town had a bad case of extreme boredom and nothing but a little bit of excitement could make it go away.
Although I don't believe there was any witchcraft going on, I do believe that the effects of the trials were very real and brought up a good point in the play: puritan morals and beliefs. In the Epilogue of the novel it talks about how the town took a while to recuperate, because while many of the townspeople were in prison or were attending the trials, their crops, animals and some children were being neglected. The reason for the trials( in my opinion) was of course the boredom and need for excitement, but also the town's Puritan beliefs and morals. The morals the town had were kept in place to make the town and townspeople perfect, and these beliefs and morals were used throughout the Salem Witch Trials, to restore the "perfect" life in the town. Ironically, the result in the Salem Witch Trials was not restored perfection but instead, ruined crops and abandoned children. So, I guess what I"m trying to say is that from this play I got that the people of Salem in 1692 were bored, hypocrites, and I think that Arthur Miller did a good job of portraying this and even making it a bit entertaining.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is probably my favorite summer reading book I've read, because I think it had a really interesting plot, and it used a lot of symbolism that could be interpreted in many different ways. Because there was so much symbolism and so many ways to interpret the symbolism, I did have trouble figuring out the theme or message the novel was trying to portray, but when thinking about what the theme may be, I found that two words always popped into my head. "Society" and "morals".
It is clearly stated in the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, The Custom House, that the narrator chooses to not judge Hester on the information he has received about her, but to instead inform us about Hester's story and let us make our own judgements. By doing this I found that had we read The Custom House as its own book and then compared it to The Scarlet Letter, also as its own book, the two books would have completely opposite themes. The Scarlet Letter's theme surrounds the idea of Puritan societies' morals and their need to judge based on those morals, while The Custom House's theme is based on the idea that the narrator isn't going to judge if he has never really been in the position of Hester, which is what I believe the "moral" of the book is: don't judge a person until you've been in their shoes.
Nathaniel Hawthorne does a great job of portraying this theme by showing us different perspectives so it feels like we have been in each character's shoes. We are also able to see how much pain Hester feels from being judged by people who have no idea what they are talking about. The Scarlet Letter is also a symbol of the judgements made on Hester, and these judgements cause her to look much older than she really is. When Hester takes off the Scarlet Letter, when she is running away with Dimmesdale, she becomes much more lively, because she feels as if she is not being judged any longer.
I feel that the theme I received from The Scarlet Letter is not even close to being the only theme of the book but instead one of many themes that each person can view and learn from in their own way.
It is clearly stated in the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, The Custom House, that the narrator chooses to not judge Hester on the information he has received about her, but to instead inform us about Hester's story and let us make our own judgements. By doing this I found that had we read The Custom House as its own book and then compared it to The Scarlet Letter, also as its own book, the two books would have completely opposite themes. The Scarlet Letter's theme surrounds the idea of Puritan societies' morals and their need to judge based on those morals, while The Custom House's theme is based on the idea that the narrator isn't going to judge if he has never really been in the position of Hester, which is what I believe the "moral" of the book is: don't judge a person until you've been in their shoes.
Nathaniel Hawthorne does a great job of portraying this theme by showing us different perspectives so it feels like we have been in each character's shoes. We are also able to see how much pain Hester feels from being judged by people who have no idea what they are talking about. The Scarlet Letter is also a symbol of the judgements made on Hester, and these judgements cause her to look much older than she really is. When Hester takes off the Scarlet Letter, when she is running away with Dimmesdale, she becomes much more lively, because she feels as if she is not being judged any longer.
I feel that the theme I received from The Scarlet Letter is not even close to being the only theme of the book but instead one of many themes that each person can view and learn from in their own way.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
The Great Gatsby
When I first started reading the Great Gatsby, I really was very confused and didn't like the book at all, but as I was reading the book I was able to understand what was going on, and eventually I was able to understand the many symbols used throughout the novel. Out of the three books I've read so far this summer, The Great Gatsby was not my favorite, but I do think Fitzgerald used many more significant symbols that made the book important. Although there were so many symbols to analyze throughout the book, the symbol that most stuck out to me was the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.
When the green light was first mentioned, I didn't think anything of it, but as I read more, I realized that the green light was a continuous symbol. Then, in chapter eight, when Nick tells the readers that he believes that all symbols in life are created in our minds, I had a sudden realization of what the green light meant. After a while of thinking about Nick's suggestion of symbols, I came to the idea that Nick meant that life is whatever we want it to be, and without a want or desire in life, we have no purpose. In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby seems to have everything he could ever need or want, but if Gatsby wanted nothing more, what purpose would he have in life? So instead of Gatsby living a great life with no purpose, he finds one thing he wants and makes his life's purpose to get it. That thing is Daisy,Gatsby's greenlight, or desire in life. When Gatsby realizes that Daisy will never want him back, he feels like he has no purpose in life, or even a reason to live, which is symbloized when Wilson kills Gatsby.
Whether you are looking at the relationship of desire to the characters in the novel, or just to people in general it is easy to see that everything a person/character does is based on what they want, and achieving this want is what sets their place in society and who they become as a person. Therefore, I believe that we must all have a green light to search and strive for in our life, or there is no life.
When the green light was first mentioned, I didn't think anything of it, but as I read more, I realized that the green light was a continuous symbol. Then, in chapter eight, when Nick tells the readers that he believes that all symbols in life are created in our minds, I had a sudden realization of what the green light meant. After a while of thinking about Nick's suggestion of symbols, I came to the idea that Nick meant that life is whatever we want it to be, and without a want or desire in life, we have no purpose. In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby seems to have everything he could ever need or want, but if Gatsby wanted nothing more, what purpose would he have in life? So instead of Gatsby living a great life with no purpose, he finds one thing he wants and makes his life's purpose to get it. That thing is Daisy,Gatsby's greenlight, or desire in life. When Gatsby realizes that Daisy will never want him back, he feels like he has no purpose in life, or even a reason to live, which is symbloized when Wilson kills Gatsby.
Whether you are looking at the relationship of desire to the characters in the novel, or just to people in general it is easy to see that everything a person/character does is based on what they want, and achieving this want is what sets their place in society and who they become as a person. Therefore, I believe that we must all have a green light to search and strive for in our life, or there is no life.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Grapes of Wrath
"Twenty families became one family." - Quote from Chapter 20
The quote above is what I believe to be the most important quote of the novel, because, to me, it clearly states the theme of the novel. I believe that in the Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck was not only giving an insight into one families adventure to California, but also, an insight into humanities' ability to either live or die in a time of hardships. In this case, society comes together and not only lives, but thrives, showing the theme that in a time of hardships, society can and will come together, like a family and thrive.
One character, in the Grapes of Wrath, that I believe clearly shows their knowledge that families must stick together to keep going on/ living, is Ma. Throughout the novel Ma proves to be the stable piece of the family, and the one who must keep the family strong, even when she is not feeling very strong herself. When Noah decides to go off on his own, Ma says " this family is falling apart" because she understands that the family get not thrive, let alone live, if there is not enough support. Because of all of the losses the Joads' face on the way to California, Ma realizes that allowing the Wilson's to tag along with them would be very helpful to keep the family strong, and to allow them to thrive. Because of these characteristics, I believe Ma is one of the most important ways the theme is expressed in the novel.
Another character who I believe grows the most to achieve the characteristics of Ma is Rose of Sharon. At the beginning of the novel Rose doesn't show many qualities that prove to be helpful to her family, other than her deep love and care for her baby. Throughout the novel Rose is put in situations where she must learn to let others take care of her, and allow herself to take care of others, because she begins to understand that to keep her baby strong, she must be strong, and for her to be strong, her family must be strong. In the end when Rose suckles the starving man, I believe she has realized that if she " comes together" she and others will be able to thrive.
Throughout the novel I think the one place that symbolizes the theme of the book is Weedpatch Camp. When the Joads arrive at this camp, they are astonished by how nice it is compared with the other camps they've stayed at. The reason this camp is so nice is because the camp is not a group of families, but instead one big family. Everyone at the camp helps eachother allowing the camp and the campers to thrive. This is what I believe is the true meaning of The Grapes of Wrath, and what I believeto be the reason that this novel is a classic, time after time.
The quote above is what I believe to be the most important quote of the novel, because, to me, it clearly states the theme of the novel. I believe that in the Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck was not only giving an insight into one families adventure to California, but also, an insight into humanities' ability to either live or die in a time of hardships. In this case, society comes together and not only lives, but thrives, showing the theme that in a time of hardships, society can and will come together, like a family and thrive.
One character, in the Grapes of Wrath, that I believe clearly shows their knowledge that families must stick together to keep going on/ living, is Ma. Throughout the novel Ma proves to be the stable piece of the family, and the one who must keep the family strong, even when she is not feeling very strong herself. When Noah decides to go off on his own, Ma says " this family is falling apart" because she understands that the family get not thrive, let alone live, if there is not enough support. Because of all of the losses the Joads' face on the way to California, Ma realizes that allowing the Wilson's to tag along with them would be very helpful to keep the family strong, and to allow them to thrive. Because of these characteristics, I believe Ma is one of the most important ways the theme is expressed in the novel.
Another character who I believe grows the most to achieve the characteristics of Ma is Rose of Sharon. At the beginning of the novel Rose doesn't show many qualities that prove to be helpful to her family, other than her deep love and care for her baby. Throughout the novel Rose is put in situations where she must learn to let others take care of her, and allow herself to take care of others, because she begins to understand that to keep her baby strong, she must be strong, and for her to be strong, her family must be strong. In the end when Rose suckles the starving man, I believe she has realized that if she " comes together" she and others will be able to thrive.
Throughout the novel I think the one place that symbolizes the theme of the book is Weedpatch Camp. When the Joads arrive at this camp, they are astonished by how nice it is compared with the other camps they've stayed at. The reason this camp is so nice is because the camp is not a group of families, but instead one big family. Everyone at the camp helps eachother allowing the camp and the campers to thrive. This is what I believe is the true meaning of The Grapes of Wrath, and what I believeto be the reason that this novel is a classic, time after time.
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