Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Incorporating Quotations.
Look back at the quotations you have collected from The Crucible and choose a quotation that you think is particularly meaningful or significant. In your post, explain the quote and explain why you think it is so important or interesting. Also, try to incorporate the quote (and maybe other quotes) into your post by using the techniques we talked about in class for weaving quotations into your writing. The due date will be Friday, October 10th. Thanks, Mr. Telles.
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There are many quotes that led/ revealed that the girls “witchcraft” accusations to be nothing but “sport” or personal revenge towards certain people. I believe that this quote told by Rebecca Nurse is very important because it’s the first sort of clue that the girls charade is nothing serious. “ … I have seen them all through their silly seasons … they will run the Devil bowlegged keeping up their mischief. I think she’ll wake when she tires of it.” (27) Rebecca had about eleven children and has twenty-six grandchildren so she claims to know how the mind of a child works and how handle or react to them. Another quote that I believe is very important is at the very end of page twenty-one to the beginning of page twenty-two where Abigail tells John Proctor that what she and the girls were doing has nothing to do with witchcraft at all. “ … Oh, she’s gone silly somehow. … We were dancin’ in the woods last night, and my uncle leaped in on us. She took fright is all.” Although it doesn’t clearly state what they’re doing nor why but Abigail’s basically telling Proctor that this whole thing is just a way for the girls to escape the trouble for dancing in the woods.
ReplyDeleteThere are many meaningful and quotes in "The Crucible". In act one, when Abigail was talking to Mercy Lewis and Mary Warren, Abigail threatens them to stay quiet or else "I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you. And you know I can do it; I saw Indians smash my dear parents' heads on the pillow next to mine, and I have seen some reddish work done at night, and I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!"(page 20) Abigail does not want any of the girls blabbing about what they have done in the woods so she can continue on with her plan. This is evident latter when Abigail is telling the court in act three that Mary is sending her spirit out on the girls in the form of a yellow bird. Mary was trying to confess to the court, which would of made everything Abigail had said about the accused witches not legitimate. Abigail was will to follow through with that threat she made in act one, and would have continued to do so if Mary had not changed her mind and went along with the girls instead of following the orders Proctor gave Mary about telling the court the truth to set Elizabeth free. This threat drives a lot of the play. If Abigail did not say this, all the girls would most likely tell the real story that happened in the woods, or at least not accused innocent woman of witchery. Before Abigail threatened the girls, Mary had said "We must tell the truth, Abby! You'll only be whipped for dancin', and the other things!"(page 18 to 19) Mary realizes what should really be done and provides evidence that if Abigail had not went to the extent of threatening the girls, the truth would have come out instead of the accusations of innocent people.
ReplyDeleteThe quotes that really stuck out to me the most, were the ones that illustrate Abigail's power over everything in the play. For example, in Act I, where the girls want to just come clean about everything and admit that there aren't any witches in Salem, and that Tituba never conjured the Devil, and no one ever killed anyone else: that it was all a lie. Or, like in Act II, when John Proctor says to Elizabeth: "I am only wondering how I may prove what she told me, Elizabeth. If the girl's a saint now, I think it is not easy to prove she's fraud, and the town gone so silly. She told it to me in a room alone - I have no proof for it." (p. 53) Like I mentioned, Abigail has power over everyone in this situation. It is a small section, but I believe it speaks a lot. We see throughout the rest of the play just how Abigail controls and uses the whole witchery mess to her advantage. The other girls won't say anything because they know that Abigail will hurt them for confessing to their misdeeds. These girls are scared of Abigail, and she knows it, and she's using it to get what she wants. She had to have known what she was doing when she told Proctor about this: if they were alone, and no one witnessed it, he'd have no evidence against her, and it could drive Elizabeth even farther away from John, which is exactly what Abigail has been trying to do. She takes advantage of her part in this to get Elizabeth arrested, just so she can get to John. She is at the center of this; whomever she points a finger at is arrested, and there's no use in denying it all, and claiming that Abigail is lying, because she'd just pull a stunt like she does with "Mary's spirit" in the court in front of Danforth. Abigail knows exactly how to manipulate the people around her. She can get anyone who gets in her way arrested and executed. And like John Proctor says, Abigail is treated as some sort of saint now, and no one can do anything to challenge or stop her.
ReplyDeleteIn the Crucible, many of the quotes are significant to how to play evolves. When Hale tries to convince everyone that the Devil is taking over the other characters, and that "We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her". Here, Hale is persuading them into believing in the Devil by saying that if they don't agree with him, he will not continue to help them. Another time someone tries to persuade other characters into agreeing with them about their superstitions about witchcraft, or whatever they may believe. "Let God blame me, not you, not you Rebecca! I'll not have you judging me anymore! Is it a natural work to lose seven children before they live a day?" Here Mrs. Putnam attempts to guilt Rebecca Nurse into believing her about witchcraft killing her babies so soon, and trying to take the judgement away from herself. The last quote I have where someone states their belief in front of others is Mary Warren at court. According to her, "In open court she near to choked us all to death... she sent her spirit out". Mary Warren is convincing John Proctor that Elizabeth sent her spirit out to choke her, and in using such intense situations, it causes the statement to seem much more real, and wanting people to feel bad for her.
ReplyDeleteThere are many meaningful quotes in the play The Crucible. In act 3, Francis Nurse says to Judge Danforth, “We have proof of it sir, they are all deceiving you.” Francis was referring to the girls’ st5ange behavior, claiming that it was witchcraft. This quote is important and meaningful because Francis Nurse is the first person to realize that the girls are just faking afflictions of “witchcraft” to get attention. Later on in act 3, Mary Warren admits to Judge Danforth, “That were pretense, sir. I never saw no sprits.” This shows that Mary is trying to do the right thing and tell Danforth that the girls are faking. But once Mary Warren admits that she and the rest of the girls are simply pretending, Abigail Williams takes the spotlight once again, as she has done many other times in the play. Abigail says, “A wind, a cold wind, has come.” She then hints that Mary Warren is the cause of this cold wind. The other girls in the room follow Abigail’s lead and pretend to shiver, too. This is important because Abigail does not want the truth about “witchcraft” in Salem to come out, since the lie has already gotten too out of control. So Abigail blames Mary Warren for witchcraft because she confessed the truth. This outburst of Abigail’s is also important for another reason. Previously, Abigail and John Proctor had an affair. After Abigail cries out about Mary Warren “bewitching” her in the courtroom, John Proctor loses it. Abigail cries, “Oh heavenly father, take me away from this shadow!” John Proctor then replies by screaming, “How do you call Heaven! Whore! Whore!” This leads to John’s confession of having an affair with Abigail. This confession leads to more problems than one. Elizabeth Proctor is then brought in and questioned about John and Abigail. Elizabeth tries to cover up John’s affair, but Danforth catches her in the lie since John had already confessed. As one can see, The Crucible has many significant quotes that lead to important scenes throughout the play.
ReplyDeleteOne day in class we were told to find significant quotes in the Crucible. This was a pretty difficult task since there are so many important quotes throughout the book. Another day in class we got into groups and made a poster with the center of the poster being what we believed was the central conflict in the play. My group said the central conflict was Abigail’s need for attention. Her affair with John Proctor played a big role in this. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!” (Miller, 24). Abigail begins to not only resent Proctor but the whole town of Salem because she is no longer getting attention from Proctor. Since she doesn’t have Proctor giving her attention she gets in the middle of this witch craft fiasco to supplement her desire for attention.
ReplyDeleteIn the crucible there were quotes that led me to believe that the people of the town were constantly judging each other or feeling like they were being judged; this may have led to the accusations and hysteria of witchcraft. One of the first examples is when Parris, Hale, Rebecca and Ms. Putnam were discussing Tituba’s ‘Powers’. Ms. Putnam confesses she sent her child in hopes that “she should learn from Tituba who murdered her sisters.” (38) In the conversation Ms. Putnam felt as though Rebecca was judging her and retorted back “let God blame me, not you, not you Rebecca! I’ll not have you judging me any more!”This quote shows how the people of Salem may jump to the conclusion that they are being watched. The next quote that supports my claim is in act two. During this scene Proctor and his wife Elizabeth are having a heated argument. This argument is the result of Elizabeth’s distrust of her husband after his affair. He talked about his good behavior since then and declared “you will not judge me more, Elizabeth…let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband any more.” (54) This quote is the evidence to prove that the people of the town are in the constant cycle of judging and being judged.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Crucible" I found that many of the best quotes came from those individuals that understood that the entire idea of witchcraft was unreasonable, and from the ones who saw behind the malicious reasons for accusations. In as early as Act One Parris expresses concern with Abigail's way of handling herself, he says "Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character." Parris had doubts ever since he knew that Abigail was involved in suspicious acts, but kept his mouth closed for the sake of his image. This quote shows the recurring theme in the book that at the heart of witchcraft accusations lies selfishness. The idea of witchcraft seems unimaginably absurd to us now, and I'm sure many people saw it that way as well when they were living it, but because society accepted witchcraft then they went along with it. In Act Three Proctor's anger at the situation involving him and his wife and Abigail is revealed in front of members of the court. After Proctor reveals the existence of his past relationship with Abigail, he goes on to say that "it is a whore's vengeance, and you must see it; I set myself entirely in your hands. I know you must see it now." This quote signifies a main flaw in the people of Salem's values. The people of Salem know that witchcraft is not really present among them, yet spite and anger keep them going. Abigail is a perfect example of someone who uses witchcraft as a way to try and get back at someone. Abigail claims witchcraft on Elizabeth because she is jealous of her and Proctor's relationship, and she wants to get her out of the picture.
ReplyDeleteThere were many lines in The Crucible that were extremely significant to the building of the play’s plot. One quote that really explained the logic involved in the witchcraft situation was when Danforth said “Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself; granted? Therefore, we must rely upon her victims.” This is exactly how the court trials were looked at from the judge’s perspective. Anyone who was accused of witchcraft was automatically guilty unless they had a remarkably convincing alibi . If the accused did not confess, they would be sentenced to be hanged. If they did confess, they would remain alive in jail. The members court obtained this idea that admitting to witchcraft was the first step to purging your soul of the Devil. By confessing, it was proved that you were still loyal to God in a way. This logic only encouraged citizens of Salem to use more and more innocent people as scapegoats. People would just blindly accuse others in order to secure their status as a victim so that they would not be accused themselves. This quote definitely sums up one of the main reasons why the Salem Witch Trials got so out of hand.
ReplyDeleteIn The Crucible there are many factors that drive the people of Salem to believe in the witch-hunt, some use it to explain events that they themselves cannot explain. Others use it as a way to lift the blame of certain events from their shoulders. I believe that the Proctor gets to the heart of why the Salem townsfolk have been so easily led to believe that witches are walking the streets when he exclaimed to Hale, “I’ll tell you what’s walking Salem-vengeance is walking Salem.” Proctor believes that some of his neighbors saw the opportunity for personal gain by accusing someone of being a witch. This quote shows that Proctor knows what is going on at the heart of the scandal and exposes the absurdity of the entire situation to Hale. After hearing this Hale changes his tune completely and actually fights to prove the innocence of those accused. What Proctor says reveals the witch-hunt for what it really is, a hoax. Only those who are losing land, or family due to the trials believe in him, though, because the other people of the town are too involved in this immense lie to simply back out and admit that they are wrong. If they were to admit they would show what they are willing to do for a small amount of extra land, to get back at a neighbor, or to lift the burden of past mistakes off of their shoulders. Proctor’s quote clearly shows the conflict in the play and is a turning point in the story.
ReplyDeleteThere are many important quotes in the crucible, but one that stuck out the most to me was when Mary Warren says, “My name, he want my name. ‘I’ll murder you’, he says, ‘if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court’, he says!” (119) Because it is the exact moment when Abigail knows she has won. Abigail knows that her whole lie of witchcraft will have all been for nothing if Mary Warren tells the court the truth. After Mary begins to plead that there is no such thing as witchcraft controlling the girls, the girls begin repeating Mary and claiming a giant yellow bird, the spirit of Mary, is attacking them. They use this to threaten Mary and to scare her into joining their cause. If Mary had kept up with her defense and had not succumed to Abigail’s lies, Abigail would have most certainly be found guilty. If Abigail had been found guilty of lying about witchcraft, Mary knows that Abigail would have come for her. Mary lied to save herself, but in the process she threw John Proctor under the bus and Abigail got away with a lie that lead to the death of many people.
ReplyDeleteIn The Crucible, many important quotes stuck out to me. The one that I could relate to the most was in Act 3 said by Danforth, "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with the court, or counted against it, there be no road in between." I could relate to this quote the most because growing up with my family, we were a huge fan of the TV show survivor. One of the contestants in this show said "You're either with me or against me." For some reason this always stuck in my mind and when I read Danforth's line I made the connection. Also, I could relate this into real life at times. Being the youngest in my family I was often forced to pick one of my siblings sides or I would be "against" them. In The Crucible, are either with the court and tell them people who practice "witch craft" or you are against the court and give no names. Their is no road in-between and you can't do both.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ideas that really stood out to me in this play was the way that nobody was able to directly admit that they did not believe in witchcraft. This was because they felt that if they made their disbelief clear then they would be targeted as a scapegoat. This can be seen when John Proctor avoids giving a straight answer on his opinion about witches. “I never spoke on witches one way or the other.” (37) Proctor was quick to make this clear to Hale after Giles Corey said that John didn’t believe in witches. This leads me to believe that there is some truth to what Corey says. Throughout the play, people decide to say that they believe in witches whether they truly do or not. Most of the characters were reluctant to believe in witchcraft at first, but then followed along with the crowd once it was defined as the cause for the strange events. Proctor was probably in a similar situation given that if he had admitted his disbelief, he would have worsened the suspicion against him. Although, being an honest man, Proctor never directly stated that he did believe that witchcraft was afoot. Even at the beginning reverend hale was unsure whether witchcraft would be the logical answer, but the townspeople went forward without receiving his professional advice. This enhanced the sense of mob mentality because all of the town’s inhabitants were influenced by each other to go forward with the easiest explanation. Once one brave person steps out of the illogical assumptions of the mob, the crowd will begin to turn on them as a scapegoat for the initial events as well as those brought on through the paranoia of the mob. This is why many of the characters are reluctant to express their true beliefs for the fear of being hanged.
ReplyDeleteOne quote that i found to be very important is, "You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.". This quote was said by Danforth in Act III of the play. This statement pretty much sums up the attitudes towards the authorities during the trials. Danforth believes that everyone and everything either belongs to the devil or God. Massachusetts primarily belongs to God. Anyone who disagrees with the courts system cannot be ruled as an honest witness. They think that you cannot disagree with God because he is perfect. During the witch trials, Proctor and Giles both question the trials. Since the court is leading them, Proctor and Giles are now the enemy of the court. The people that agree with the court are servers of God and anyone who doesn't agree with the court and trials then they must be a server of the devil.
ReplyDeleteIn act 1 page 38 of The Crucible, Reverend Hale says, "The devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone, and I must tell you all that I shall not proceed unless you are prepared to believe me if I should find no bruise of hell upon her.” This is almost an allusion to the fact that the people of Salem, especially some of those present in the room at the time of Hale saying this such as Mrs. Putnam and Parris, are so reluctant to give up on the idea that is witchcraft that caused Mrs. Putnam to lose her children 7 times, Betty and Ruth to be sick, and the girls to dance naked in the woods. This quote also tells us how Hale believe witchcraft to be possible, yet how he finds it unlikely to be what is causing the mischief. Throughout The Crucible, Hale seems to struggle with if he thinks that it is witchcraft that is plaguing Salem, as evidenced in act 2 page 79 when Hale says, “I shall pray God opens up our eyes” and later in act 3 on page 114 he says about Abigail, “This girl has always struck me false!” Considering that identifying witchcraft is supposed to be his specialty, I find this wavering mindset is a heavy indicator that he believes there to be none, but that he has come to this conclusion too late.
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