Sunday, October 6, 2013

"Witches" Still Exist

In the portion of The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, that we read this week, we discovered the mass hysteria prevalent during the Massachusetts Salem witch trials. Much of the fear was fabricated from false accusations and mob mentality. The whole occurrence was created by Abigail, and she did everything in her power to continue the ciaos. She caused everyone in the town to re-evaluate their neighbors. This craziness has a direct correlation to the nine eleven terrorist attack and the public's reaction to the Muslim community. After this attack people formed a misunderstood dislike for this community. American airports and other areas created intense security and also formed a large focus toward middle eastern cultures. Much like in Salem, many people began to accuse the whole Islam religion as a terrorist group. This accusation is ridiculous considering Islam is one of the most peaceful religions. This related back to the witch trials and Mary Warren being accused as a witch. This is just as ridiculous, because Mary Warren is one of the most timid and kind characters with in the play. These events are just examples of how closed minded humanity is.We want things to be picture perfect and in many cases we can not seem to accept diversity or difference. Also, mankind uses this to their advantage, much like Putnam's accusation in order to gain land. This is still common within modern day, because humanity has always been selfish and close minded.

2 comments:

  1. Nice insight on how the witch trials are linked to narrow-mindedness. Although I picked up on greediness as being a driving force, I had not considered human nature's inflexibility. Nice job!

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  2. I never noticed how closely this play is related to modern terrorism. I think the connection really opens modern day readers' minds to what it was like during the trials.

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