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The Crucible Comparative Essay

Decent Essays

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

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