Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Persuasive Paper: The Crucible Essay
Introduction â€Å"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The violent encounters of the past contain valuable lessons about resolving conflict.†           The happenings of the pasts are significant to any events occurring at any point in the present. From the fundamental ideology that past acting as blocks, the actions, decisions and every participating events that have occurred in the past predetermine the possibilities of the present, and eventually the future. In the movie, The Crucible (1953) written by Arthur Miller, the correlations of past events with the happenings of the present are largely illustrated. In different points of view, three unique angles of issues are considered the primary subjects relating to the repetitions of past and the failures of resolving the repeated conflict. For John Proctor, the native Salem farmer, he is confronted by the issues of affair with his previous maid, and maltreatment issues with his current. Meanwhile, Abigail Williams, the niece of the Reverend, has experienced being confronted by her affections and emotional attachments that damaged one relationship; however, after the incident in the past, it has now grown capable of damaging the community. Lastly, Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of John Proctor, has been confronted by trust issues towards her husband in the early parts of the movie, which eventually evolved in trust conflicts that led to the lost of her loved one. Discussion Persuasive Arguments            The three primary characters of the movie are the best illustration of certain individuals who fail to learn from their pasts and unconsciously repeat the similar instance, yet still end up being trapped within its lairs. In the story of crucible, the plot of has revolved in a latter medieval setting wherein a community happens to fall in the social fear towards the spreading news of witchcraft. It has been initiated by a group of locals headed by Abigail Williams who happened to induce illness towards the daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, Betty Parris. In such event, the Reverend, being concerned to his reputation than his sick daughter, has initiated the wide search against the corruptions of these so-called witches. The hunt and legal trials have all revolved in the fraud manipulation and lies brought by Abigail, which in the end corrupted various innocents of their community, including the couple, John Proctor and Elizabeth.            Starting with John Proctor, his character in the movie possesses the pride of being a Salem native and the attitude of a hard-working husband. However, his past has revolved in the issue of having an affair with his former maid, Abigail. Markedly in the act 1, Abigail tries to entice and brings back the events of her past with John Proctor,            â€Å"I cannot sleep for dreamin’; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house         as though I’d find you comin’ through some door (Act 1).† However, John denies any attraction towards her and points out that the issue of their affair should not come out to the public. Such scenario illustrates the historical mistake of Proctor, particularly in abusing his authority towards his servant. Hence, the past of Proctor is able to catch up to his present in latter portion of the story. Abigail has brought the name of his wife, Elizabeth, to the courtroom and branded her as one of the witches. Meanwhile, prior to the incidents of his first mistake with Abigail, he is still unable to learn from the conflicts produced by his abuse of authority; hence, he repeats the abuse of power towards his servant Mary Warren. Due to John’s failure of realizing the conflicts brought by his history with Abigail, his encounter with Mary has brought him within the walls when Mary branded him as the warlock who manipulated her thoughts in order to falsely accuse the locals. In the end, since Proctor is not able to learn his lessons in maltreating his first servant, the repetition of the history has brought him a more violent consequence, which leads to his death trail.            Meanwhile, Abigail is also confronted by the same incidents of repeating history and the failure of comprehending the consequences of her action. In the story, Abigail is considered the manipulative character able to entice the manhood of Proctor; hence, leading to their illegal affair. After Elizabeth discovered the affair, she decides to send out Abigail resigning her from her servitude. In defense to her soiled name and humiliated figure, she brags about Elizabeth’s dominative treatment towards her. However, due to the incident, Abigail has considerable ruined the marital relationship between John and Elizabeth, especially considering the status of Elizabeth’s trust towards her husband after the incident. Despite of the trouble she has implicated to the couple, Abigail still pursues her ambition of obtaining back Proctor, and in her preferred process, she has enticed the public with her lies and accusations of witchcraft to various women within their community including Elizabeth. During the second repetition of her conflict, Abigail now damages the lives of various women in her community (i.e. Mary Warren, Sarah Good, Goody Osborne). In the case of the couple’s relationship, Abigail’s lies and enticement have caused further dilemma to both Elizabeth and John by having them imprisoned and branded as witches.            Lastly, Elizabeth Proctor, being the faithful and loving wife of John Proctor, has been confronted by her trust issues towards her husband after discovering John’s affair with Abigail. In the Act II, Elizabeth has manifested her anxiety and paranoia on the possible repetition of mistake that his husband did with their former servant. After the first incident, Elizabeth finds it hard to trust her husband and most of the time suspects him of being with Abigail. Such conflict has first resulted to the argument of the couple. However, during the second time Elizabeth’s trust to her husband is tested in Act III, Elizabeth is not able to comprehend and trust the plans of his husband. When John decides to assert the claims of his affair with Abigail in order to break the hold of Abigail to the courtroom, Elizabeth is asked to validate the statements of her husband; however, due to the conflicts of trust, and fear of tarnishing the name and pride of Salem community and her husband, she decides to deny the claims made by John. In this second encounter, the consequences have led their relationship to further shatter leaving them both separated by prison walls and the accusations of witchcraft practice made by Mary Warren against John Proctor and Abigail Williams against Elizabeth Proctor.            Evidently in the movie, the three characters have shown how history can repeat itself and further causes heightened impact during its second occurrence. Since the lessons in their pasts have been neglected, the repetitions of the conflicts have placed their present in heavier consequences. Personal Perspective            From the latter analysis of the concept through the movie – The Crucible, it is possible to conclude the philosophical truth in the initial statement, â€Å"those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.†In fact, the tragedies of the story have revolved in continuous successions of their role conflicts, particularly (1) John Proctor’s failure of recognizing his maltreatment actions over his subordinates, (2) Abigail William’s failure to realize the damages she have been implicating towards the coupe and eventually towards her community, and (3) Elizabeth Proctor’s trust issues towards her once unfaithful husband. Evidenced by the conflicts and tragedies of the story, the failure of actually realizing the decisions and activities that led to particular events possess greater possibility of occurrence in the future.            Even in real life situations, from larger perspectives of society to personal experiences, negative events in the past most of the time occur in the present, especially when the primary cause/s of the problem is/are not determined. Learning from the events of the past is an essential preventive task in order to avoid the possibility of repeating the mistakes and wrong decisions created in the past. Some of the famous events that illustrate repetitive history due to the failure of undermining the triggers of these mistakes are (1) the events of World War I and its sequel – World War II, (2) Racial Civil war of Blacks and Whites leading to wide factional stereotypes which should have been resolved if the people in the past realized the indifferences only of skin and culture, (3) the bombarding of Pearl harbor to the deadly Hiroshima Bombing which should have been prevented if Japanese realize that the intents of the Pearl Harbor camp were not against the Japanese country.            Evidently, the statement, â€Å"the violent encounters of the past contain valuable lessons about resolving the conflict†, can be considered a factual justification supporting the initial sentence discussed in latter portion. The happenings of the present largely depend on what has actually occurred in the past; hence, without realizing the lesions, the possible causes of mistakes, the triggers of downfall, and the fundamental wrong of acts in the past, the events of the past tend to repeat itself. Clearly, every happening in the past provide significant lessons, which can expose itself either directly or indirectly, and it is only up to humans to determine these potential resolutions. From the examples given in real-time setting, (1) World War II should have been prevented if the Japanese learned the powers of United States; (2) the Racial Civil war between Blacks and Whites should have been prevented if Whites did provide equal treatment towards Black people and based their judgment in the principles of humanity – not in the color of the skin; (3) Hiroshima Bombing should have been prevented if Japanese troops had not bombarded the pearl harbor base camps just because of an assumption of possible plan of attack plotted within the camp.            Evidently, resolutions are presented every time an incident or even when a simple outcome of decision occurs. From simple mistakes to larger scope of damages, resolutions are always born from decision that initiates an effect. From three different perspectives, the characters of John Proctor, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor, have performed actions in the past, which eventually hunted their present days.
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