McCarthys power Essay Example for Free

McCarthys power Essay We also see this clearly when the corrupt Putnam ruthlessly and heartlessly kills off his neighbours to buy their land, using his daughter and Tituba as mediums to accuse people with and feeding names into their mouths, as he does with the words, Sarah Good? Did you ever see Sarah Good with him (the devil)? Or Osburn? Before his daughter Ruth has even admitted to witchcraft, he spreads the word of witchcraft, cruelly calculating his next move. The words, That is a notorious sign of witchcraft, a prodigious sign, indicate his joy at the opportunity to make some money and settle some old grudges. His disregard for his daughters health is yet another example of his lack of humanity. Parris is equally selfish and cold. When questioning Abigail about her dancing in the woods, Parris proceeds to say, I must know it now, for my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it you must understand I have many enemies there is a faction sworn to drive me from my pulpit, like Putnam lacking any concern for Abigail. It is clear that people like Danforth, Parris and Putnam arent in the business of helping Salems society, as people of their status should be, but in furthering their own possessions. Without these individuals keeping order and maintaining justice in the town, all of the old grudges and petty grievances are allowed to run riot and influence the proceedings in court, as we see when Ann Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse, arguably the most respected person in the town, of killing her babies. This is also an example of how little scientific knowledge was available at the time, and how eager people were to place blame on other people. Aside from the few individuals with integrity, like Proctor, Corrie and Rebecca Nurse, the rest of Salems society will sacrifice others to safeguard their name in the town. When questioned by Hale, Abigail seems to instinctively play the innocent child which the audience knows she is definitely not, an example of dramatic irony. Im a good girl! Im a proper girl! These words highlight how quick she is to defend herself, and her insecurity about her image and reputation in the village. Once she is safe, she proceeds to shift blame onto others, like Tituba. She tried (to make me drink the soup) but I refused She made me drink blood! Abigail realises her word is taken over Titubas because of the racial prejudice at the time the play is set in. People like Abigail, Parris and Putnam arent afraid to use this discrimination to their advantage, which only serves to kill more people, or to ruin their lives. It is ironic that one of the few admirable qualities that are found in the town is the reason that so many people die. Ultimately, people like Hale and Proctor realise that it isnt being seen as a good Christian or letting people think you are innocent that matters, but knowing yourself that you are innocent and have nothing to fear. It is this that convinces them that everything should be done to protect your innocence, even giving your life, in Proctors case. People like Proctor and Reverend Hale are purified by Danforths crucible but for the wrong reasons. While Danforths words, We burn a hot fire here; it melts down all concealment, would appear to be correct, they are ironic, in that the only way the truth comes out is if innocent people die first These men, along with the many others who are convicted, struggle long and hard with the decision of confession and lies versus integrity and righteousness. For others like Rebecca Nurse the choice is already decided, as her words, Let you fear nothing, another judgement awaits us all, suggest. She is firm in her belief that they will be repaid by God for maintaining their innocence. Johns dilemma is much worse, as he has family and children to worry about, and his name is ruined in the village already, as news of his adultery charges would have circulated. The impact of outpourings like, I lie and sign myself to lies! I am not worth the dust of the feet of them that hang, gives you the feeling that he realises the complexity of his situation, and that he is trapped either way. The real problem to him is that he believes it is his fault. Elizabeths last line, He has his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him, lets you know that she understands his choice and she respects and forgives him once again, which is ultimately what he wanted. The society has the ability to let innocent people die, not only because they are loyal to themselves and no one else, but because these people are willing to die for what they believe, or what they want, in Proctors case. There are many other people in the village who try to speak their mind, and do what is morally right, but whose aspirations are crushed by the opposing factors, like Parris, Danforth and Abigail. Mary Warren is a good example of this, as she hides from her fears, but then confronts them, only to be brought to her knees by the sheer callousness of Abigail. We can also attribute this to the earlier mention of Danforths interrogation-style cross examining as well, as he repeatedly asks the same question to Mary, Has Mr. Proctor ever threatened you for this deposition? Has he ever threatened you? Has he threatened you? It personifies the disorder of the courts legal system, as if Danforth doesnt get the answer he wants, you will suffer, whether you are right or wrong. Mary eventually caves in to the pressure, condemning Proctor in the process, although sympathy is felt for her, as all of her weaknesses are ruthlessly exploited by the girls, betraying Mary and leaving her with no other alternative. When Mary goes to court, she feels as if she is on trial and it is her credibility that is questioned, even though it is she who is accusing the girls, again linking to Hales earlier comment, Is every defence an attack upon this court? Danforth refuses to question the girls, as if they are found to be guilty, his reputation will be ruined and his judgement will be compromised. Instead he turns a blind eye you any damning evidence against the girls, and with the help of Parris, forces people to lie to save themselves, vindicating his decisions in the process. This is revealed when Parris declares, There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning! This is ironic, as Parris church is already burning like Hell as a result of his wayward leadership. Outbursts like this not only show the real character behind Parris fai ade, but they also serve to highlight the way he and Danforth work against the community, with an attitude that only helps the corrupt. Once Danforth has weakened the accuser, he provides them with a way out, as he does with Mary, slowly pushing her to convict Proctor with suggestions like, It may well be Mary Warren has been conquered by Satan, practically putting words in her mouth. His desperation becomes much more apparent when he threatens Mary, You will confess or you will hang, another example of his twisted logic and self-serving nature. This pressure to do what is expected draws parallels to the McCarthy era, when Un-American activities were seen as wrong, and the one person who should represent hope, Danforth in the case of The Crucible, is in fact an antagonist in the whole predicament. This pressure again links to fear, but in this case it is fear of authority that reigns supreme, as there are few people who have the courage to challenge the decisions made by Danforth, and face the harsh consequences. Any Salemites who enter the court are forced to choose between Danforths and Parris version of right, and the Christian right, which, in a just system, should be the same thing. As the play goes on, the audiences antipathy for Parris grows, as they see him twisting the words of others and lying in court to protect himself, hardly the actions people expect of a priest. A prime example of dramatic irony is witnessed as the audience can see straight through Parris false exterior, as he desperately tries to cover up anything that could point to his knowledge of the girls just dancin in the woods. Few Salemites have any knowledge of his ulterior motives, or that anything he does or says is purely for his own well being, and the manner in which he projects himself is a far cry from his real character. Parris attempts to use theology to secure his position in the good books of Danforth and the community, often referring to the Bible during the proceedings in court. He leads most of the society to believe that he is trying to help them and, by lulling them into a false sense of security, he then seizes the opportunity to rid the town of anyone he believes is a threat to himself, or his position. Utilising his status and reputation, he preaches, You should surely know that Cain were an upright man, and yet he did kill Abel, in an attempt to have Proctor convicted. No court can provide unbiased or uncorrupted justice if its own minister is trying to have the defendant killed. His words, The devil lives on such confidences! Without confidences there would be no conspiracy, are ironic but true, as it is he who as kept much greater secrets, and it is he is the devil of Salem. In this sentence he is accusing someone who contrasts greatly with him, Giles Corey. Miller uses Corey to bring humour to the play, but he also stands alongside Proctor and Rebecca Nurse as one of the main symbols of integrity and righteousness. Although he is revealed as a nai ve, slightly puzzled man, he isnt afraid to speak his mind, albeit with some harsh consequences like his wifes death. Unlike Parris, he values his friends, which eventually leads to his death. His response to the choice of betraying his friend or dying is admirable, his integrity clear as he replies, I stand mute. The audience feels a great deal of sympathy and admiration not only for Corey, but also Proctor and Rebecca Nurse who set a great example that, few others follow. There is immense injustice, as the only people who die are innocent, and they are the privileged few who have integrity. Although he cant stop the proceedings in the court, Hale disassociates himself from the fraudulent proceedings in the Salem court, with the statement, I denounce these proceedings, I quit this court, ruining his reputation in the process. His efforts to correct Danforths judgement are brought to a halt, often by Danforth himself who quips, I will have nothing from you Mr. Hale! This again highlights the stubbornness of Danforth, as he refuses to listen to anyone The structure of the play is quite regimented, as there always appears to be a glimmer of hope in each act, but the end of every act ends with chaos. This shows that the situation could never be resolved, as the paranoia and hysteria undermined any efforts to do this. In reality, it was the Salem society that was the devil, as Proctor declares, A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours Danforth! This again shows the humbleness of Proctor, as he has the integrity to face up to his shortcomings, while Danforth would prefer to hide, frantically trying to drown out Proctors words with his own, with the frenetic cry, Take him (Proctor) and Corey with him to the jail! This is another illustration of Danforths cowardice, and his inability to confront his flaws. Proctors earlier quote, God is dead! also serves to show the disorder in the justice system. The people who should represent God, like Parris and Danforth, are now the devils. We see further irony when Danforth states, I will not deal in lies, in a bid to obtain Proctors confession, when in fact, every pardon or conviction was based on a lie. No one can be sure if Danforth believed he was right in doing what he did, but it is obvious that he wasnt right. In contrast, it is more obvious that Parris had a hidden agenda. However, both were responsible for the deaths of innocent people, although it seems that this was the only thing that could bring their reign to an end. One of the reasons Miller wrote this play was to denounce McCarthyism, and the end again draws parallels to this period, as the whole saga only came to an end when someone took a stand against the state. There were very few people who were willing to stand up for their beliefs, not only in Salem, but also during the McCarthy era, which is understandable given the consequences. . Miller projects other figures as unlikely heroes, everyday people like Rebecca Nurse, Giles Corey and John Proctor, who have the courage and integrity to admit to their faults, and die for their beliefs. In this era, with the town steeped in anger, vengeance and despair, these individuals stand alone making their achievements even greater. Once a stand had been taken however, the repercussions suffered by the corrupt leaders of these eras were also similar. Danforths power over the public diminished rapidly and Parris walked the highroad, and was never seen again. McCarthys power ceased as well, highlighting again, that a few individuals with a conscience can make a difference, one way or the other.

Philosophy - The Only Truth Ex :: essays research papers

"We are, then, faced with a quite simple alternative: Either we deny that there is here anything that can be called truth - a choice that would make us deny what we experience most profoundly as our own being; or we must look beyond the realm of our "natural" experience for a validation of our certainty." A famous philosopher, Rene Descartes, once stated, "I am, [therefore] I exist." This statement holds the only truth found for certain in our "natural" experience that, as conscious beings, we exist. Whether we are our own creators, a creation, or the object of evolution, just as long as we believe that we think, we are proved to exist. Thinking about our thoughts is an automatic validation of our self-consciousness. Descartes claims, "But certainly I should exist, if I were to persuade my self of something." And so, I should conclude that our existence is a truth, and may be the only truth, that we should find its certainty. From the "natural" experiences of our being, we hold beliefs that we find are our personal truths. From these experiences, we have learned to understand life with reason and logic; we have established our idea of reality; and we believe that true perceptions are what we sense and see. But it is our sense of reason and logic, our idea of reality, and our perceptions, that may likely to be very wrong. Subjectiveness, or personal belief, is almost always, liable for self-contradiction. Besides the established truth that we exist, there are no other truths that are certain, for the fact that subjective truth may be easily refuted. Every person possesses his or her own truth that may be contradicting to another person’s belief. A truth, or one that is true for all, cannot by achieved because of the constant motion of circumstances of who said it, to whom, when, where, why, and how it was said. What one person may believe a dog is a man’s best friend, another may believe that a dogs is a man’s worse enemy. What one may believe is a pencil, to another is not a pencil, but a hair pin. Where one may believe that a bottle is an instrument, one may believe is a toy, where another may believe is a beverage container. Where one will understand the moving vehicle "car," one might understand "car" as a tree.

Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm

Percy Bysshe Shelley once said, â€Å"Power, like a desolating pestilence, pollutes what’er it touches. † He meant that when somebody acquires a reasonable amount of control or power over others, that dominance will eventually corrupt them. The corruption can quickly get to the point of extreme savagery emerging over respectable leadership, causing the people who are being ruled to suffer great hardship. This is exemplified in the novel,  Lord of the Flies,  by William Golding and in the film,  Animal Farm,  directed by John Halas and Joy Batchelor.In Lord of the Flies Jack begins as an innocent young choir boy who later on rises as a leader and turns into a vicious savage when the power goes to his head. Similarly in Animal Farm Napoleon initially promotes equality for all, but soon becomes corrupt and desires full power and control above all of the animals other after he gains authority. Both texts show that people will do almost anything to obtain and keep po wer whether it is fear or violence. In Lord of the flies Ralph is originally elected as the leader of the island, this was due to Ralph summoning the rest of the boys using the conch.The conch represents power, civilisation and order in the novel as it gives whoever is holding it the power of speech. As the boys became less civilised and more savage the conch started to deteriorate so did the boys society. Ralph led the boys with fairness, order and rules. He set jobs for the boys and listed goals he considered important to achieve. The main goal he set was to be rescued he considered a signal fire the best way to get the attention of a passing ship. Jack thought that gathering meat and hunting was the most important goal.Jack became leader of the hunters this was his first step into gaining absolute power. On the first hunt Jack was unable to kill the pig. This shows that at this point Jack still had morals and was not yet corrupt. Eventually Jack was able to kill a pig this shows Jacks loss of innocence and the start of his corrupt behaviour. Jack’s power soon escalates he offers the other boys meat, which is deemed as important by nearly all of the boys except for Ralph and Piggy. Jack soon starts his own tribe all the boys, bar Ralph and Piggy join up.This gives Jack what he had hoped for all along absolute power over the island. Jack and the boys now participates in daily hunts this shows Jacks corruption at its largest extent as after each hunt Jack becomes more and more savage and his power constantly grows along with it. Jack also uses fear of the beast to gain more power. Jack gave a sense of security and safety from the beast so the boys wouldn’t leave his tribe. Jack also controls the hunters who are the strongest and most savage on the island.The other boys are too afraid to leave Jack’s tribe as they fear they will be hunted. In Animal Farm, Snowball is originally elected as leader after their evil human owner is overthrown. S nowball treats all the other animals equally. Snowball and the other animals write 7 rules which must be followed by all animals. The seventh and most important rule is â€Å"All animals are equal†. This is very similar to Golding’s use of the conch in Lord of the Flies as, the society starts to corrupt the pigs change to rules to keep up with their corrupt ways.From the beginning of the film Napoleon one of the pigs wants to become sole leader of the farm, even though this would completely contradict the beliefs which all animals agreed on from the start. Showing that Napoleon is a power hungry character from the start, this resembles Jack and his need for power. Napoleon then uses a pack of trained dogs to kill Snowball after an argument. This is Napoleons first use of violence to gain power, this violence generates fear amongst the other animals giving him an easy rise to power.This resembles Jack and his use of fear to gain power. This is also the beginning of Napo leons rise to complete power. He uses his superior intelligence to convince the other not so intelligent animals that Snowball was a liar and a thief without any proof. While Jack does not possess the intellectual superiority he is still able to convince most of the boys to join his tribe. Once Napoleon and the other pigs move into the old farm house things start to get much worse, as they enjoy the life of luxury the house offers.They even go to the extent of changing one of the 7 rules from â€Å"No animal shall sleep in a bed† to â€Å"No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets. This is clear abuse of power as Napoleon changes the agreed upon rules only benefiting himself and the other pigs. This is again similar to the conch as Jack shows complete disregard for the rule of the conch. That rule of course being, if somebody is holding the conch they talk and everybody else listens. Napoleon soon realises if he trades with people outside the farm then he will be able to gai n even more power.This similar to Jack as he realises that he will be able to generate more power if more people join his tribe. The pigs need the chicken’s eggs to meet their half of a deal, the chickens refuse as the whole point of the original rebellion was to make use the animals were not used again. This is similar to the way Piggy and Ralph act as they refuse to join Jack’s tribe because it goes against what they decided on at the beginning of the novel. The pigs then try to take the chickens eggs by force, but the chickens purposely break their own eggs.This is another example of Napoleon abusing his power because he thinks because of his power he can do whatever he wants. This is similar to Jack taking Piggy’s glasses as the glasses provided a window to more power. Napoleon makes up a speech claiming the chickens are traitors and that they must be punished to death. This shows that Napoleons greed, corruption and thirst for power has grown to such an ext ent that he is willing to kill anybody who defies his orders. The animal now fear for their lives when they are told they will be used for trade nobody defies this order.This closely mirrors Jacks way of leadership, however instead of killing them, Jack often orders them to be physically beaten. The pigs again change the rules reducing all seven into one single phrase â€Å"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others†. This rule states what had been evident the whole time that the pigs are superior, or more equal, than any other animal who are all equally below the pigs. This resembles the conch, when the conch was broken it symbolised the death of democracy and thus showing the island was run as a pure dictatorship.Meaning Jack was â€Å"more equal† than his counterparts. The pigs eventually become so powerful that they begin to resemble the humans they replaced, even wearing clothes and walking around on two legs. The pigs have made a full circ le becoming as powerful and corrupt as the humans before them. The use of different film techniques also give the viewer the impression the pigs have power, several times a low shot is used looking up at the pigs. This is a textbook technique used to give power or dominance.In addition there is the use of a high shot looking down at the other animals to show weakness and inferiority. Jack from Golding’s  Lord of the Flies  and Napoleon from Orwell’s  Animal Farm  each demonstrate the tormenting effects that positions of authority can cause, especially when asserted for the wrong reasons. In the case of these two characters, power fell into the wrong hands, and as a result, the subjects suffered under oppressive rule, while the leaders reaped the benefits with no mercy.

How The Economics Of Slavery And Patriarchy Shaped Harriot...

How the Economics of Slavery and Patriarchy Shaped Harriot Jacobs’ Life In Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Will Collins Harriet Jacobs autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, describes how the economic realities of the time shaped her life as slave, female and mother. Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, North Carolina in 1813, five years after the African slave trade was abolished in the United States and about two decades after the invention of the cotton gin. These two events dramatically influenced Harriet’s life as a slave, female and mother by changing the socioeconomics of slavery. Throughout her life, Harriet seeks to buy herself out of slavery and to become free. But, it is her misfortune that slave values consistently increased during her lifetime (slaves on average cost between $30,000 to $130,000 in current dollars), especially in the Deep South where â€Å"gang† agriculture used large number of slaves to produce cotton. Harriet’s strategies to free herself and her children are consistently blocked by the macroeconomic reality that slaves represented a significant percentage of the South’s wealth. As is shown in her autobiography, the increasing brutality that Harriet experiences is at least partially correlated with her increasing value as a commodity. When Harriet finally escapes slavery, she learns that she cannot earn the money she needs to live a full life because, while she is not a slave, she is still a woman. â€Å"Free† women’s lives