It was good to have a new type in our summer reading books. A play was a good break from all the novels. It was a lot easier to read than I thought a play would be. It was very descriptive with a page every now and then in novel style. It probably would have been boring if there were only continuous dialogue. The Crucible was engaging and easy to read. I could clearly picture the situations and the emotions the characters felt.
The second scene of act 2 changed a lot if included. It always appeared as though Abigail was selfish and vindictive. Her being mad changes her motives. She is still despicable for hanging others, but you can pity her for not being in her right mind. She goes from evil to nuts which is probably a step up. Everywhere else she is accused of lying and hurting others for power and self-gain; her being mad enough to believe she is doing God's work shows she believes she is telling the truth and really thinks she is helping. She becomes less of a cruel villain and more like a child who knows not what she does. It actually makes the people who follow her word even more foolish for not being able to tell insanity from reason. A well-rehearsed lie should be more convincing then crazy babble.
The Crucible shows how fear can get out of control. Fear causes people to not see the truth right in front of them. The puritans had great fear for Satan and thengs unknown, it caused a witch hunt that only a few objected to. Fear caused mayhem and opportunities people exploited and so tried to keep the fear alive and growing until no one could control it. The people were so frightened of what witches might do or that they may be accused of witchcraft that they went along with it. When truth was presented in front of them or the insanity questioned, they were still so afraid of evil and their hands already dirty, they could not accept reason.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I find your feelings for Abigail interesting. Do you think if you believe something long enough it becomes true? That is the sense I get from what you are saying about Abigail.
ReplyDeleteFear causes a lot of mayhem. You are probably too young to really remember Y2K. Everyone thought all of the computers were going to quit working, Wall Street was going to collapse, and we were going to go back to the beginning of time technologically. All of this was because of the change from 1999 to 2000, the rollover of the numbers. People were stock piling food, water and money. It was crazy. Well, look at those who fear Doomsday in 2011 or 2012. You are right on with the fear aspect.