Obedience, By The Crucible Essay - 1419 Words

Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where obedience is automatically learned from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible, obedience leads to the deaths of many innocent individuals. It was because of the â€Å"afflicted† girls’ decision to obey Abigail that Salem was â€Å"talking witchcraft† and accusing so many individuals k nown for their devotion to God of speaking with the devil (The Crucible). It was also because of the town’s undivided obedience to their religion that those who ultimately decided who lived and died believed they were making the correct decisions. If obedience had been omitted from the chaos of the Salem Witch Trials, the mass hysteria of the issue could have been avoided. Although the theme of heteronomous obedience, or submission to authority, repeats throughout The Crucible, the characters’ internal conflicts with theirShow MoreRelatedSimilarities Between Apology Speech And The Crucible793 Words   |  4 Pages Composers’ representations of the complex relationship between people and politics are influenced by various moral and social agendas, whereby a portrayal of reality and meaning is inherently subjective. Arthur Miller’s dramatic allegory â€Å"The Crucible† explores the political and social ramifications of the contentious ‘Cold War’ period in American history when the widespread fear of communism arose. Kevin Rudd’s political speech, â€Å"Apology Speech† delivered on the 13th of February 2008, also examinesRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1333 Words   |  6 PagesAs the various characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller interact, the dominant theme of the consequences of women’s nonconformity begins to slide out from behind the curtains of the play. Such a theme reveals the gripping fear that inundated the Puritans during the seventeenth century. This fear led to the famous witch-hunts that primarily terrorized women who deviated from the Puritan vision of absolute obedience and orthodoxy. Arthur Miller presents his interpretation of the suffering by subtlyRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1073 Words   |  5 PagesSalem . The impacts of the allegations were fatal; for many people their families were torn apart and life as they knew it was gone. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, he illustrates this. Miller’s purpose was to show how fear motivates people and he demonstrates this through the characters of Mary Warren, Tituba, and Reverend Parris. In the play The Crucible Miller’s purpose of fear can motivate people is also demonstrated by the character of Mary Warren. For example, in Act One after the dancingRead MoreIndividuality in the Crucible1063 Words   |  5 PagesIndividuality versus Conformity in Miller s The Crucible The theocratic town of Salem, in the late 1600s, not only advocated conformity but stifled individuality. The play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, illustrates the conflict between conformity and individuality. Salem, a town dependent on the unity and participation, understandably teaches people from a young age to recognize the needs of the community as greater than the needs of an individual. As any unit needs something to hold it all togetherRead MoreCorrupt Government Lies In 1984 And The Crucible1496 Words   |  6 PagesAll governments lie. It is the duty of the individual to uncover the truth. George Orwell and Arthur Miller warn the readers of the dangers when a corrupt government lies to their citizens to preserve their power in their texts, 1984 and The Crucible. Through their characters, the authors portray the conflict between the State’s propensity to lie and the individual’s desire for truth. Orwell depicts Winston Smith fighting against the â€Å"liesâ €  of the party through the use of literary techniques suchRead More Characters of the Crucible in Relation to Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Reasoning961 Words   |  4 PagesLawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, identified six developmental stages of human moral reasoning. The first stage that he recognized was the Punishment-Obedience Orientation, where the person’s concern is for avoiding punishment through obedience. The second stage was the Instrumental Relativist Orientation, where the person’s concern is to work in their self interest, and better their position. The third stage of moral development was the Good Boy-Nice Girl Orientation, where theRead MoreGeorge Miller s The Crucible 1250 Words   |  5 PagesMy Resistance Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. In society it has been something you are taught as toddler to respect authority, your elders. There are plenty of rules that as children we follow because it has been enforced in our minds that those are the rules and we must follow them. The rules do not tend to be questioned until someone disobeys them and did not think their actions were wrong. It is then that we being to question authorityRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1169 Words   |  5 Pagesunique character, or underdog, finishes victoriously: becoming the hero, winning over the girl, and so forth. This story line has been seen in many different fairy tales. The Crucible follows that same plot, but twists the typical denouement into one that portrays the darkness of a society meticulously. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible highlights the significance of conformity in a society of people and growing suspicion that will begin t o lurk throughout a community if one is different. This is portrayedRead MoreThe Dramatic Effect of the First Act in Arthur Millers The Crucible1154 Words   |  5 PagesThe Dramatic Effect of the First Act in Arthur Millers The Crucible The Crucible is set in Salem in 1692. It is about a group of girls who are accused of witchcraft by the people of Salem, and they are put on trial for it. The story is centred on a man named John Proctor who is a farmer in the town, and it is about his affairs, his everyday ones and his sexual ones. There are many themes in The Crucible, deceit, religion, fear, guilt and the evading of peoples privacyRead MoreGender Is A Now A Large Topic For Modern Society938 Words   |  4 Pagesto raise and birth children . Soviet Union you will raise children and birth them but also be a soldier and fight when needed. You will be treated as a man but with the duty of a woman . Women in Colonial Quito were legally obligated to practice obedience to their husbands. Women were dominated by their husbands and faced abused. Because this was how society viewed a role of a women in their society . Also in Brazil a boy had to act like a man if he was what they defined as a subversives they were