For this post, respond to the ideas that a fellow student has shared during the in-class formal discussion of Acts I and II of The Crucible (Wednesday and Thursday). If you agree, extend the other student's ideas by explaining why they are so essential and meaningful. If you disagree, politely explain why you disagree and offer an alternative understanding or interpretation.
This post will be due on Friday, not Thursday. Thanks, Mr. Telles.
One of the obvious antagonists in The Crucible was indeed Abigail because she convicted innocent women of witchcraft thus sentencing them to death,but however a more complex and confusing villain was the town of Salem itself. Why did nobody ever question Abigail and her gang of, for lack of better term, 'witch hunters'? The whole town was just prepared to just get on board with the accusation and didn't even hesitate to charge their own neighbors. Yes, fear of being 'thrown under the bus' was legitimate, true, but wouldn't the force of the whole town be big enough to stop a bunch of bored teenage girls, high off the power of controlling the town? I don't know, the fact that nobody with any authority ever questioned any of the witch nonsense makes me suspicious of what was really going on in Salem, and hopefully once we finish the book we can find out.
ReplyDeleteDuring our class discussion, I thought that Sammy made an excellent point about the Crucibles. She said that the characters’ behavior in Salem’s was caused by the fact that they see only what they want to see. I completely agree with this thought because it is very evident that those who have been accused see perfectly that there is no witchcraft. But everyone else who is safe from accusation is emphatic in their belief that there is. For example, John Proctor sees that his wife’s accuser Abigail is lying about the witchcraft simply because his wife is in danger. But everybody else refuses to understand this simply because they do not want to be the ones in Elizabeth's position, and they wish to keep the spotlight of them. To me this signifies that whatever is convenient for the people in Salem, they will do at any cost even though they know what's really going on deep down. I completely agree with Sammy’s statement, and think that this is one of the main points in The Crucible.
ReplyDeleteDuring the in class discussion people began to question Mary Warren and whose side she is on. The idea that Abigail is a cult leader was also brought up. These two valid points seem to have a connection. It is unclear in the story whether Mary is helping Abigail or if she is neutral in the witch hunt. It is my belief that Mary Warren is not freely choosing to be on Abigail’s side but is being coerced into it by Abigail herself. At this point in The Crucible Abigail is holding all of the cards. Anything and everything she has said has been taken as fact. We have also learned that one of Abigail’s greatest desires is to get rid of Elizabeth Proctor. Mary Warren is the servant at the Proctor’s house. She has the ability to get close to Elizabeth with great ease, something that would be extremely helpful to Abigail. Mary has also been working closely with Abigail during the court proceedings, making her an easy target for Abigail. It is no coincidence that Mary gave the poppet with a needle in it to Elizabeth. In fact, it is very possible that Abigail is behind the whole thing. It would not seem out of character for Abigail to force Mary Warren to stab the doll with the needle and give it to Elizabeth, but what force could cause Mary to go against her employers and follow Abigail’s plan? The answer to this question is actually quite simple- fear.
ReplyDeleteAs noted before Abigail is becoming a very powerful leader in the town of Salem, and she now has the ability to accuse anyone she wants of witchcraft. The fear of being accused, convicted, and hanged for this offense could be very real for Mary Warren if she does not follow Abigail. While Mary may not want to plant the evidence in the Proctor’s home, fear can force people to do terrible things. It is the power of fear that gives Abigail the ability to control the actions of Mary Warren and numerous others in Salem. It is fear that blurs the lines of right and wrong, of good and evil, of sane and insane. It is the power of fear that has destroyed the moral compass of so many residents of Salem and turned the town into a cult controlled by Abigail.
During our class discussion about The Crucible, many great questions were brought up. For example, why was Parris in hiding in the bush, or was the needle placed in the doll purposely? These questions are not exactly answered in the book. Everyone had different ideas about the meanings behind these unexplained events. One point that was made was, maybe Abigail set up the whole doll and needle situation. All the signs are there. She has it out for Elizabeth and she was at the meeting with Mary Warren. I liked how some one put these pieces together. It would make sense for that to be what happened. Whether or not this question is answered at all in the book is unknown, but this got me thinking more about this event.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the class discussion, many thoughts and ideas were brought up. I think that the one I agreed with and responded to the most was that the people in the town were listing off random peoples names with whom they don't like or just to get themselves out of trouble. To think that this was all influenced by a young girl is insane. It shows that the people are only seeing what they want to see which was also brought up in class. Just about everyone in the town has been swayed to believe what Abigail tells them because they are afraid that if they don't agree they will be charged for witchcraft. This is meaningful point in to the story because it shows how easily the people in the town can be scared of something that, many of them know aren't true and that they are brought to believe the young girls that have come up with the idea and managed to create witchcraft in Salem.
ReplyDeleteIn our class discussion, the idea that Abigail could be associated as a “cult leader” was touched upon. Throughout Acts I and II of The Crucible, it seems as if Abigail could be behind a lot of the mysterious events in the play that may be related to witchcraft. One scene in particular that seems like Abigail could have been the mastermind of was when Mary Warren gave Elizabeth a doll that had a needle in it. With closer inspection of the needle’s placement in the doll, it matched up with the spot where Abigail had been stabbed earlier. In the eyes of the people, it seemed as if Elizabeth had been involved with some voudou. In my mind, this could not have been a coincidence nor an act of witchcraft, this must have been a set up that Abigail convinced Mary to be apart of, by acting as if she were a cult leader. By including Mary into Abigail’s plan, there would be an easy way to convince people that Elizabeth was a witch by not directing any negative attention towards Abigail, because after all Abigail was the “innocent victim” who had been caught up in Elizabeth's voudou. To get Mary to agree to be part of Abigail’s scheme, I believe she created a push and pull relationship of threats and comforting with Mary. This sort of relationship would keep Mary attached to Abigail in a way that she wouldn't want to leave, and so she would do the things that Abigail pushed her to do. Abigail’s way of manipulating the minds of the people around her, by acting as a cult leader, showed how she wanted to be assured of her life and image in the village. In our class discussion, the topic of Abigail acting as a cult leader of the people in the village was an idea that I agree with.
ReplyDeleteToday and Wednesday we discussed in class our thoughts about the Crucibles. During the discussion the phrase "thrown under the bus" came up frequently in the discussion. We used “thrown under the bus” numerously because we are at the time of play when everyone is accusing their enemies of witchcraft, seeking hope that they will get punished, or so they won’t get punished if they have been accused already. The reason why “thrown under the bus” vividly stuck out to me is because it is the best and simplest way to explain the behavior of mostly all the characters in the story as of now. Also, we discussed some questions we had about to hectic play as well. One question that came up was “Why was Parris hiding in the bushes in the opening part of the play?”. The reason why this stuck out to me was because the author may have built in that mysterious scene to foreshadow a future scene. Maybe that bush or maybe that location may be a key aspect much later in the play. To sum it up, out of all the qualities we discussed today and yesterday during class, the idea of “thrown under the bus” and the mysterious scene when Parris was hiding in the woods, eagerly stuck out to me.
ReplyDeleteDuring the class discussion there were a bunch of interesting topics and ideas brought up about The Crucible. One of the more striking ideas that came up was if Mary Warren and Abigail had worked in putting the needle in the doll and Abigail getting stabbed with a needle and framing Elizabeth Proctor. I believe this was likely to happen because of the two, Mary Warren and Abigail, they both want Elizabeth put into jail. Another noted subject that was brought up multiple times was if Abigail was linked to the witchcraft somehow. I feel as if this could be true because every chance she gets, Abigail would blame or accuse others of witchcraft. Also in Act l she had drank blood that her and her "cult" made with Tituba who was linked to witchcraft. The book doesn't clearly state what had actually happened in these events so it leaves you to figure it out for yourself and create an ending in which you choose.
ReplyDeleteDuring our class discussion of The Crucible many important points were discussed. I did agree with the students about the Salem townspeople see only what they want to see. The class knows this statement is true because the people in the town who have not been accused of witchcraft believe there are witches around Salem. Citizens of the town who have been accused of witchcraft know for sure that there are no witches. Everyone in the town is terrified of Abigail and they want to stay on her good side. So they continue with the belief that there are witches. The townspeople do not want people to point the finger at them because they don’t want to be in the same situation Elizabeth Proctor is in. Some of the class believes that Abigail and Mary Warren framed Elizabeth Proctor. This seems to be right since Abigail hates Elizabeth because she loves John. It is clear that the people of Salem will do whatever they can to keep themselves safe and out of harms way.
ReplyDeleteDuring our class discussion today I thought Sammy’s explanation was brilliant she was spot on everything it was like you were reading the actual acts everything was in chronological order. During the discussion she mentioned that the people will do anything to keep themselves out of trouble now and mentioned after the first arrest there is no turning back from that point. During this period everyone knows there is witchcraft but sense people see someone has already been condemned they think it is a way to get back at there enemies by accusing them as witches for example Abigail had an affair with John Proctor and Proctor is married to Elizabeth so she accuses Elizabeth she is taken arrested and will be tried she did this because so she can get her out of the way so Proctor will pay more attention to her. Another big thing was that she mentioned was that Paris and Hale where immune to any accusation because they were ministers so Paris just went along with it so he wouldn’t look like the bad guy. These actions that the people are doing are hurting them even more it is all going to end really bad. Sammy’s summary was spot on the main points of act I and II.
ReplyDeleteIn our class discussion yesterday and today, we expressed many opinions and also asked many questions. One of the most captivating things that was said is when Carly started talking about Cults. The definition of a cult is, "A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister." This ties right into the theme of witchcraft. Abigail, who once had absolutely no power in the city, is now controlling people. As said in class, the tide is turning. As more and more people are arrested or executed, Abigail jeopardizes someone else. Abigail is technically using her power to the extreme. The nazi concept "blood cement" ties back to the cult idea also. Like Jordan said in class, Hitler did not order people to kill Jews but they did anyway. Abigail is not killing people, but her being a hypocrite and opening her mouth is what's getting people thrown in jail or killed.
ReplyDeleteDuring our formal classroom discussion about acts one and two of The Crucible, there were several essential and quite meaningful ideas unveiled. As a group, it seemed that we continually mentioned the idea that, deep down a character knows something is false, yet social conditions force them to believe it is true. I agree that most everyone in the town of Salem is aware of the fact that supernatural activity is not real. However, this connects to another essential point brought up in class, which is that of empowerment. Several people mentioned that Abigail could be compared to a cult leader. Of all the characters in this play, she is the one who knows for a fact that witchery is false. When she realizes that accusing others may convince the townspeople to stop pointing fingers at her, she takes that opportunity. As discussed, at the end of act one she points her own finger at numerous people. Abigail is overcome with supremacy and suddenly, no longer looks like the villain, but the hero. To add, women of that time never had any power. They worked as servants for most of their lives, meaning they were virtually on the bottom of the totem pole. It is to be expected that with newfound power, someone may get a bit out of control (like a cult leader), but Abigail takes it to a whole new level. In act two, she goes so far as to stab herself with a needle, and then points the blame at Elizabeth, which she has already done before. This time though, she has a cult of girls to stand behind her. Mary Warren, Elizabeth’s servant, doesn’t know what to believe, but then takes Abigail’s side. Mary knows deep down that Elizabeth would never hurt anyone, but social pressures (the thought of being accused by Abigail) take over. This only further proves that in terms of this play, gaining power is sometimes the only way to preserve oneself.
ReplyDeleteI do not know why Parris switched from not believing there was witchcraft tot their was witchcraft. If he was so concerned of his position in the village he should have stuck to his guns and taken one side and stayed with it. Sadly though Parris lacks the spine to do things like that (which would have saved lives). Suddenly he must have seen some kind of opportunity in the matter to cause him to change his views. This returns to the fact of how the whole story of the "witchcraft" was simply a scheme by some people who saw an opportunity and took it. The best guess is that Parris saw which way the wind was blowing and set sail in that direction which ultimately led to the death of some other people but he was fine because he had assured his plausible deniability by simply choosing the right way to go in the eyes of the law. Honestly Parris is probably the one most at fault in the whole book because it was him that gave Abigail the power to name other people as witches or wizards. if he had just toned things down a bit things would have turned out differently
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