Comparative essay There are themes of injustice and justice in The Shawshank Redemption, and only a theme of injustice in The Crucible. In this essay, I will discuss the sources of injustice across each text and explore the lack of justice in The Crucible contrasted by The Shawshank Redemption. Besides abuse of power, injustice in both texts stems from the notion of false accusations. In the beginning of The Shawshank Redemption, we see the protagonist Andy Dufresne being convicted for the murder of his wife. Although the truth may seem ambiguous in the beginning, we discover Andy’s innocence by the end of the movie. This court scene is like the unjust convictions of the marginalised individuals in The Crucible, for instance, Sarah Good. …show more content…
In the Shawshank redemption, we see the warden abusing Andy for his own personal gain, by making him do his fraudulent taxes and punishing him when he tries to prove his innocence. The warden’s morals and motivations are similarly reflected in the character Abigail Williams in The Crucible. Most of Abigail’s actions are motivated by self-interest, but we see the epitome of her manipulative character in act two when she accuses John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, of witchcraft by using a needle and a poppet to suggest Elizabeth had used witchcraft to harm her. Another instance of the warden’s abuse of power is when he kills Tommy so that Andy has no testimony of his innocence. This self-interested action reflects when Ann Putnam accuses Rebeccah Nurse of witchcraft for having a healthy family in act one, out of jealousy for her own failed attempts at childbirth. In The Shawshank Redemption, we see only one character, the warden acting out of self-interest, representing the correctional institution, as the head of authority, which is paralleled by the people of Salem in The Crucible representing the society itself. The nature of the contrasting parties exercising their abuse of power has a direct effect on the final theme of each
There were a lot of differences that I noticed between the book and movie. One of the differences that I really liked is how we got a sense of Abigail’s insanity in the movie. She looks and sounds a lot more convincing in the movie than in the book. One thing that I noticed is that in the movie, when Abigail is trying to wake Betty up, many of the girls who has also danced with them were there as well, yet in the book it was only Abigail, Betty, Mercy and Mary Warren in the room. Then when Betty finally awakes and starts to yell for her mother, Abigail is very harsh in the way that she yells at Betty telling her that her mom is "dead and buried.
People come and go, but fear remains constant. In 1692, the people of Salem were scared into believing there was witches among them, and in 1950’s the Red Scare destroyed thousands of people's lives by saying they were Communists. Those accused were both witch hunts were put on trial, and in Salem they were killed, and the Red Scare had blacklisted those persecuted. Theres many similarities in "The Great Fear” and a poem on Sacco and Vendetti, Margaret Chase Smith’s speech, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. The similarity are lives being over and the towns, the people who started the mess and, the people who spoke out.
One major similarity between The Crucible and social injustice today is unfair trials. In The Crucible, Abigail can prosecute random people without repercussions, since she is the “only one knowledgeable”. Some girls know that Abigail is lying to the town, but she threatens them, saying she will “bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder [them]” if they expose her (Miller 19). Likewise, in the US currently, jurors are struck based on whether they will help the prosecutor or defendant’s case, such as Mississippi District Attorney Doug Evans who struck black jurors 4.4 times more frequently than white jurors over his career to help him win his cases (Wiley and Hart). Another large similarity between The Crucible and criminal justice is harsh punishment.
In 1952 a play was written by Arthur Miller, about events that happened in Salem in 1692. The play was about affairs, accusations, and innocent people being accused of witches. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and Mary Warren are introduced as two separate people. Although people might see Abigail and Mary Warren as two separate people and nothing alike, they are more alike than meet's the eye. Abigail and Mary Warren have three things in common; they are both are deceitful, they both dishonest, and they are both apprehensive.
In the novel The Crucible written by Arthur Miller the story is based on the Salem Witch Trials which took place in 1692. Many people can relate to it because this is based off true life events that took place. The Salem Witch Trials and The Red Scare both contained a lot of drama. Miller’s story of the Salem Witch Trials closely parallels to The Red Scare communist “witch hunt” of the 1960s. Many people were killed and taken away from their families in the 1950s.
Over 200 accused, and 19 hanged--that is the number of people that were wrongly accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. These numbers are extremely outmatched when compared to the Red Scare of 1951, but the circumstances were almost identical. In both instances, figures devoured the fear of the common people and began bringing it close to home. In 1692, the people of Salem feared sin and wrong-doing. When the first young girls showed any signs of acting different than what is considered normal for their puritan society, they were automatically accused of witchcraft.
The Crucible is a 1996 drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner. Originally, written by Arthur Miller, it is adapted by his play of the same title, which is inspired by the Salem witchcraft trials. The trials were said to take place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. The film was set in a theocratic society, in which the church and the state are one, and the religion is a strict, austere form of Protestantism known as Puritanism.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible has been published in many textbooks, and taught to high school students as American Literature. The written play has characterization that makes you feel what certain characters feel. It has been performed on many different stages and even made into a movie.The written version of The Crucible characterized the people of Salem, Massachusetts better than the movie, by giving John Proctor a connection with the reader, and the people of Salem a personality, even though the movie version had many nominees and won awards.
Americans vs Muslims - The Modern Day Salem Witch Trials On the morning of September 11, 2001, 2,996 people were left dead and 6,000 others injured after four American Airlines jets were taken over by Islamic terrorists and crashed into the two World Trade Centers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania (“September 11 Attacks”). Since the September 11th attacks, many Americans have grown to fear Muslims after an unfortunate association between terror and Islam as a result of the 9/11 attacks. Similarly, in the late 1600s, villagers in Salem, Massachusetts imposed their fears and vengeances against those they declared ‘witches,’ the focus of Arthur Miller’s novel The Crucible.
While justice is meant to be directed with upmost fairness and equality, Arthur Miller’s film The Crucible demonstrates that this does not always succeed, and in many situations the forces of injustices are exposed. From different points of views, justice can be formed or destroyed. In the film The Crucible, Arthur Miller convinces his audience that reason, emotion, and character shows injustice throughout the social hardship in a Puritan community.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the global issues demonstrated are politics, power and justice. This play was based on the foundation of hierarchy and beliefs with many people seeking more power and influence, with the idea of guilty until proven innocent, people could easily get rid of opposition. There were many instances in which the course of the play turned as a result of poor judgement, abuse of power and injustice. This play shows the correlation between the situations in the play, and how these can be connected to the global issues of power, injustice and loyalty. The actions taken throughout the course of the play show the tragic downfall of the protagonist, John Proctor.
Proctor. For the first and only time in the play we see Abigail as her
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an interesting play that evokes many emotions and feelings. The Crucible is unique to the pieces of literature that I have read because it is deeply rooted and tied to many things, for example, it is about the Red Scare and how fear and hysteria can drive people to do many insane things. But it is also about the Salem witch trials and the development and the thought process that the characters go through. The Crucible is a play with many meanings; each person can derive a special and meaningful message from it. However, the Crucible is similar to the pieces of literature that I have previously read because the plot points are necessarily the same; the Crucible follows the plot with a tragic hero so it was easy
Reputation shines as a theme in the play. Through reputation comes discrimination and in the crucible almost all the witches are judged on reputation and this is important in today's world especially with things such as racism. Another critical theme in The Crucible is the role that hysteria can play in tearing apart a community. Hysteria messes with logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are committing unbelievable crimes. Intolerance is key in the crucible. Because Salem is a theocratic society, moral and state laws are the same and therefore there is no room for error and intolerance becomes current. Danforth shows this when in Act III he says "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it." Empowerment is central in modern day society and appears in The Crucible many times. The play shows how power corrupts and how certain characters use there power in association with fear, to get there way.
The Shawshank Redemption movie is about a man named Andy Dufresne who was falsely accused of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Being in jail, Andy faced many problems of being abused, but he also gained a strong friendship with a man named Red. Many of the things that the prisoners had to face showed a sociological perspective on how life was in jail and how it affected the prisoners. In Shawshank prison, the functionalism theory, the conflict perspective, and the control theory shows the life and adjustments a prisoner has to make in order to survive going into a new world.