Emotion is a human instinct that most people find hard to control. It can completely dismantle life as someone may know it. Authors can access emotion and use it to persuade their audience to believe or do a certain thing. Of course, ethics and logic can be used as well, but nothing can compare to the power of pathos. The Crucible, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson all use emotion through word choice to persuade their respective audiences. Characters in The Crucible appeal to their audience’s emotions in order to persuade them they were worthy of their sympathy. John Proctor, although first made out to be a simple sinner, ended up being a hero who died rather …show more content…
In the sermon, Edwards seems to be angry with his congregation for sinning so much. He even begins to attack the children in the audience about their sins. “But the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.” (Edwards 10) Here, Edwards is telling his congregation that their children were also avid sinners. Edwards plays on the fear factor of his Puritan audience, he wants to terrify them into believing that their children are sinners so that they will do what he wants in order to become holy people. He knows that the parents of his congregation would do anything to ensure their children would be safe, especially from the Devil. Edwards later moves on to accuse the adults in the congregation of not worshipping God correctly. “So that whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men’s earnest seeking and knocking, ‘tis plain and manifest that whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.” (Edwards 11) Here, not only does Edwards try to convince his congregation that their children are sinners, he also tries to convince them that no …show more content…
Mary Rowlandson used emotion to convince its audience of Mary Rowlandson’s suffering and innocence. Mary Rowlandson was taken captive by hostile Indians that murdered her whole family. The only person she had left was one of her children, who was badly injured. “...the bullets flying thicke… (one went through) the bowels and hand of my dear Child in my arms” (Rowlandson 195). Mary Rowlandson is just telling her audience about the horrific events that happened to her child that day, but in a sorrowful tone. Her word choice makes this clear. She uses the word “dear” to impress upon her readers how dear the child was to her. Later on in her recount of these unfortunate events, she talks about her child’s death. “About two hours in the night, my sweet Babe like a lamb departed this life, on Feb. 18, 1675” (Rowlandson 199). Here she uses emotion in the same way as the last quote. Her word choice is the key aspect here. She calls her child sweet and that it died like a lamb. In conclusion, Mary Rowlandson used emotion to persuade and inform her audience of the when she was abducted by the
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, it is evident that John Proctor is the tragic hero. Concluding through evidence in the play, it is fairly simple to connect him with separate parts of the definition. He makes his share of mistakes, just as many human beings do. John Proctor is fundamentally a good man, with respectable
Edwards' creative choice of words that he uses describes the power of God and the terrible Hell awaiting sinners. These words easily infiltrate into the minds of his congregation and frighten them beyond belief. These choices of words and his use of such vivid images are mostly successful in their intent, to scare and put fear into his audience. Edwards held his audience locked up with his promises of eternal damnation if proper steps were not taken. The congregation felt the intense impact of his rhetorical strategies and lived on the fear of the power of God. In this way, he was able to keep his followers from sin and away from the fiery pits of Hell.
The hero archetype is expressed in all forms of literature and the Crucible is no different, the reader immediately becomes aware of Proctor as the hero when he states “I am sick of hell!”, an obvious symbolic suggestion of the archetype vehement distaste towards evil. Unlike the idealized perception of the hero, the initial impression of Proctor is flawed as he is portrayed as an adulterer with Abigail, “I know how you clutched my back behind your house and sweated like a stallion”. This characterisation assigned by Miller is purposeful, known in archetypal theory as a ‘public persona’, a mask designed so that when Proctor is redeemed it amplifies the apotheosis of his quest. In reading the text,
Many actions dignify the traits of a tragic hero, but only few stand out. In the tragedy The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a tragic hero dies a good man when brought to trial over nothing more than child’s play and dishonesty. John Proctor is an honest, upright, and blunt-spoken man because he fought for what is right and found forgiveness in his fatal flaw. Although he exhibits these traits throughout the story, John dies a dynamic character.
An array of Aristotelian tragic heroes can be found throughout American literature. One of which includes John Proctor, main character farmer in mid-30s, from Arthur Miller 's play, The Crucible. Yet, in order for him to obtain such a title he must possess specific characteristics. Five of which include possession of hubris, a flaw or decision leading to desire for revenge, a reversal of good fortune brought forth by the error of judgement, acceptance of poor fortune brought forth by their actions, and lastly the fate dealt to these characters must be greater than deserved. Aristotle once said that “ A man doesn 't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” Before the play even begins John Proctor has already conducted adultery, a fatal flaw in judgement, with Abigail Williams, a sneaky seventeen year old. This crucial crescendo leads to the development of the Salem Witch trials and the downward spiral of John`s comfortable lifestyle.
In the book The Crucible there is a struggle within to have one have a sense of belonging to society. They want to be loved by that society no matter how much they may seem that they don’t belong. But they do want to show that to everyone, everyone that may not think that.
People’s true character is revealed through their actions. Their morals and ethics can be told from how they choose to act in a situation. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible; the character of John Proctor is an honorable man despite having committed wrongful acts. He was able to redeem himself through acts that is considered courageous, such as when he refuses to contribute to the lie of witchcraft in Salem, when he fights for the people who were convicted of witchcraft and when he regrets being a dishonest man.
In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor fits the classic Greek definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle, one of the great Greek philosophers, teachers and writers, stated that one of the most important aspects of a tragedy was the tragic hero. He defined a tragic hero as a noble person that goes from a state of fortune and happiness to a state of utter misery. The character’s tragic flaw causes this change. Aristotle stated that witnessing the downfall of the character triggered an emotional release, which left the audience feeling relieved because they have empathized with the character, but not upset because the downfall was the character’s
A tragic hero is a very favored person that suffers from a downfall which leads to their death. John Proctor, like many others, is a tragic hero. The author, Arthur Miller, gives John Proctor the role of a tragic hero throughout the story of The Crucible. This protagonist, John Proctor, made judgement errors that inevitably led to his own destruction. John Proctor is an afflicted individual. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably damaged him in the eyes of God, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. John Proctor succumbed to sin and committed the crime of adultery; however, he lacks the capacity to forgive himself. When referencing criticism, John Proctor and the Crucible of Individuation in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Michelle I Pearson, who also agrees John Proctor is a tragic hero, once said in her article that “While the people of Salem look at Proctor and see a strong, hard-working, no-nonsense man, Proctor himself knows that he is an adulterer, a lecher, and that he drives himself to try to be free of his guilt. Not until faced with a crisis, however, will he leave the persona behind and begin the process of individuation.” The criticism provided helps prove John Proctor fits the role of a tragic hero in The Crucible. In order to convey the message of iniquity in the Puritan society, Arthur Miller casts John Proctor in The Crucible because he is able to overcome his tragic flaw of hubris, but still the circumstances unfortunately led to his death. Proctor is a very respected man in Salem but he also has a few flaws that have proved him to be a tragic hero which are prideful, lustful, and well respected. Later in The Crucible, Proctor realizes his flaws and tries to fix them but it is too late. One of Proctor’s tragic flaws is that he is too prideful.
In the crucible characters are motivated by various themes such as, reputation, power, witchcraft and society. John Proctor, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris’s actions are prime examples of how in the crucible these themes motivate character’s actions
In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, various characters, whether it is from physical trials or unseen personal struggles, experience some kind of major conflict. There are those who spend every day in fear, wondering whether or not they will be falsely accused of witchcraft. There are others who struggle with more internal trials, such as forgiving those who have hurt them. The protagonist, John Proctor, was a man of strong moral constitution, and held himself to a high standard for the sake of his good name and family. As a result of this, he struggled with a major internal conflict throughout the play.
Since John Proctor behaves as an essentially good and upright man throughout the story, his tragic death stirs pity and fear in the audience. The audience cannot help but
In her writing titled “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, Mary lies out for the reader her experience of being held in captivity by Indians during the King Philip’s War. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this writing is the glimpse that the reader gets into Rowlandson’s faith and religion. Faith was a major aspect of life in the Colonial Period. It was of widespread belief that God was to be feared, and that he was the only way to redemption (Kizer). Mary Rowlandson was no different, but the extreme conditions of her captivity caused her faith to occasionally waiver. Most of the time throughout her journey in captivity, she depended on God, and the
American playwright Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952) displays to us that which hunt still exists in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch trials and the senator Joseph McCarthy. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the readers that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The crucial way however, that Miller achieves his supreme objective of revealing the risks of reputation vs. integrity is through a fascinating character, John Proctor. John is an example of an internally conflicted character because he had a huge argument with Elizabeth over Abigail, Proctor also had an affair with Abigail, and lastly John had a choice between life and death at the end of the play.
Since the times of the ancient Greeks, tragic heroes have been used to enhance the meaning of a play or literary work. Any character cannot be described as tragic hero. Several key characteristics are necessary for the tragic hero to possess in order to be characterized as such. He must be high-ranked or have a high standing in the community. He must have a weakness or a tragic flaw and be involved in a struggle. In the end, that struggle will lead to his downfall. Arthur Miller purposely incorporates these characteristics into John Proctor, one of the main figures in The Crucible. He masterfully portrays Proctor as a tragic hero even though he is a common man.