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The Crucible - Belonging Essay

Decent Essays

The sense of belonging humans naturally seek in life reflects the feeling of security and being accepted. They struggle with their identity as they make the choice whether to reject the individuality and belong to a community or group. When individuals seek to belong and rigidly follow society’s norms and practices, they must adhere to the strict rules of their society. In doing do, the desire to belong comes into conflict with the need to be an individual. These ideas are powerfully evident in Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”, “Catcher in the Rye” by J.D Salinger and the Gurinder Chadha film “Bend it like Beckham.” In each of these texts, most desire to belong but need to restore the balance between the need to belong and the …show more content…

Their actions break the cohesion in Salem’s tight knit community. Reverend Hale sees this and warns the officials that they are courting rebellion. As a result of the trials, “cows are wandering loose, crops are rotting in the fields, and orphans are wandering without supervision”. Many homes have fallen into neglect because their owners were in jail or had to attend the proceedings. Everyone lives in fear of being accused of witchcraft.
One character in particular, represents Miller’s view of individuality and is seen as a hero figure because he chooses to defend his individuality. This play shows one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with the devil. Proctor tries to expose Abigail and the girl’s deceit but he is punished for it because children were thought of as the voice of god and they were innocent. When the trial was brought in front of the court officials, Deputy Governor Danforth feared that he will lose power therefore weakens the testimony from the girls which broke the power of theocracy in Massachusetts.
The most important scene in the play was act two, scene three, where John Proctor is able to talk with his wife, Elizabeth, one last time. He is accused of practicing witchcraft and at first he decides

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