Modern Puritan

Throughout both the crucible and the Scarlet Letter, it is evident that the Puritan society can be very judgmental, and harsh to people who break the rules and sin.  In many ways it is very hard for these people to forgive one another.  In fact many times there are people in a Puritan society that can never forgive others for doing something wrong.  I think that this is wrong, and that people should be able to forgive others for what they have done.  I think that an example of a modern Puritan society would be that of the one that we live in today.  For example take a look at people who commit a felony, and are forced to go to jail for breaking the law.  They go to jail and they serve their time as a consequence for what they did wrong.  They are willing to admit that they did something wrong, and they take the public shaming from others.  However when they are released from jail, it seems that they are still imprisoned behind cold steel bars.  For instance many former felons find it hard to integrate back into their society after so many years of confinement.  They may also have a tough time reaching out to family or friends who cannot look past their past failures.  They are not willing to grant forgiveness, and they make the felon continue to live in his mistake for the rest of his life.  In addition former felons have a tough time finding employment after their prison years.  It seems that there should be no reason for this, especially after they had already served their sentence.  People deserve to receive a second chance in life, and I feel that former felons are not granted the same opportunities that regular citizens are granted.  

A Hero’s Life

By Sam Reichert

John Proctor’s life cannot be characterized in one moment, however I think that he became a hero towards the end of the play.  In the beginning of the play, Proctor is looked upon as a leader by many of the village people.  He is a hard worker, who is not afraid to voice his opinions.  However you get a sense that John Proctor feels ashamed of himself on the inside, and feels guilty for what he has done.  His major flaw in the Crucible is when he committed adultery with Abigail Williams, one of his maids.  It seemed that a good man had been turned sinful, with one rather large temptation.  He struggles to mend his ailing marriage with his wife Elizabeth.  Adultery was a major sin in the Puritan society, and it was rather difficult for the John and Elizabeth to move past.  Elizabeth was beginning to doubt John, and felt that she could no longer trust him.  Because of this secrets were kept between them, making them grow further and further apart.  John Proctor was no perfect man, in fact he had thought of himself as a failure to himself.  He was beginning to doubt his faith at points, because of events that were transpiring in the town, where faithful people began turning on people and lying just to save their precious life.  

            However I believe John Proctor was a hero because at the end of the play he showed a great sense of selflessness when he would not hand over his confession to witchcraft, to judge Danforth.  Proctor would not blacken his name and lie to have his life back.  He was finally able to atone his mistakes in his marriage, and his failures as a husband at this moment.  He was finally able to see some grain of goodness in himself.  John Proctor was not willing to sell out his friends, because he felt a moral obligation to them.  I believe that is a critical characteristic of heroes.  Proctor would not lie, and offer himself to lies just so that he could save his own skin.  He knew that he had done nothing wrong, and would not give into the pressure, even if it meant losing his life.  John Proctor did not want to ruin his name, for something that was false.  He showed true dedication to honesty and truthfulness at a time of chaos, where people’s morality was being questioned and abandoned, and for that he is a true hero.  

There Goes the Neighborhood

The phrase “There goes the neighborhood” can register to many different opinions or thoughts for many people.  However for me I think that the quote means that a way of living has been altered by the introduction of a new cultural or philosophy on life.  For example we see this many times throughout the course of history.  One example that we talked about in class was dealing with the Native American way of life, and the English views.  One of the aspects that the two civilizations really clashed at was their view on their certain religion.  For example the Native Americans were polytheistic and worshiped many different kind of gods, while the English were monotheistic, and would not dare give praise to other gods.  This led to the English trying to impose their religion on the Native Americans.  However the Native Americans would not give in, showing great dedication and faith in their own religion.  This would eventually lead to the English taking over many parts of North America, in which the Native American way of life was dwindling by the minute.  The two groups of people would not cooperate, and give into one another.  I think that throughout the history of earth, when two different groups of people meet for the first time and they have different ways of living, the two groups will usually disagree with one another.  This will lead to the near extinction of one way of living, while the other way begins to thrive and expand.

            I think that it is interesting to see how over time, the way of life for Native Americans has changed so drastically.  Once the English explorers voyaged to the Americas it seemed that they were forcing their religion and different views of life on them.  They thought that their methods for life were correct, while the Native Americans culture was very primitive and barbaric.  Once the English imposed their new ways of life on the Native Americans their “neighborhood” was invaded and stripped away of its precious cultural values of life.  To this day the Native Americans have been given small portions of land in which they can call it their home.  Their “neighborhood” was destroyed when the first explorers landed in North America.  This example of the Native Americans and the English explorers is a great example for this quote.  The Native Americans lived in a peaceful and satisfying neighborhood in which they were content.  Then the explorers came to North America and they ruined the lives of hundreds of people.  They destroyed a pleased environment or “neighborhood."  I think that at first the Native Americans did not know what the explorers were going to do, and they were okay with them being there.  But as time passed I think they realized what was happening and said, “There goes the Neighborhood.”