Streetcar 6-9

Reading scenes 6-9 of Streetcar was a wild ride, to say the least. In these chapters, we learn about Blanche's past, Stanley's frustrations, and Mitch and Blanche's relationship in more depth.

In scene 6, Blanche and Mitch return from an awkward date and clearly struggle to maintain a connection. Mitch is awkward and constantly apologizing, and Blanche is clearly hiding something. After going inside, the two somewhat make conversation before Blanche discloses just some of her background. Here, we learn that Blanche's past lover killed himself. The reason for this being that Blanche found out about that he was cheating on her with a man and tells him he is disgusting. This makes me wonder if Blanche was simply a cover for him and if he actually loved her. If so, it is heartbreaking to think that Blanche worshipped this man who did not reciprocate those feelings. Also in this scene, we learn why Blanche is always in the shadows, "And then the searchlight which had been turned on the world was turned off again and never for one moment since has there been any light that's stronger than this kitchen candle" (115).

In scene 7, we see Stanley's hatred for Blanche even more. He has been asking his friends about Blanche. He tells Stella that Blanche has been lying about her virginity to Mitch, had many rendezvous with men in a hotel, and also was caught with a 17-year-old boy. Honestly, this wasn't that surprising to me basing off of how Blanche acts to all the men in her life. It seems that after her past lover's suicide, she has become hyper-obsessed with men and sex. Whether it is the first encounter with Stanley, the young man, Mitch, or any other men who stop by the house, she is alarmingly fixated on them.

  In scene 8, the birthday party for Blanche is uncomfortable at best. Blanche picks up something and fears what Stella has learned about her. Stanley, as usual, lashes out. This time he shatters a plate because he is frustrated with being called a Polack and an animal. Although I don't agree with his methods, I see where he is coming from. He is only seen as a brute, which makes him act like a brute even more. Also, he is frustrated with his marriage because he believes that Blanche brings unnecessary tension and anger into the house. At the end of the scene, Stella goes into labor (I think)!

In the final scene of last night's reading, Mitch begrudgingly confronts Blanche. He is clearly frustrated with her and Blanche overcompensates to attempt to lighten the mood. Something I found offputting about this scene was how she reacted with the light. She has a full on freak out when he tries to see her. I feel that Blanche believes she must stay in the dark to cling onto Mitch. Here, she admits everything she has done. Mitch says that she is "not clean enough" for his mother and leaves. Once again, Blanche is left alone and she panics.

A Streetcar Named Desire, Act 1, Scenes 1-2 (Emily B.)

I first noticed how the stage directions started of with describing a building called Elysian Fields. This place is an allusion to Greek mythology. The Elysian Fields is a part of the Underworld where Greek heroes and virtuous citizens go after they die. In this way, it is known to be the best place to live your afterlife in the Underworld; however, it is still described as a bleak and depressing place. The stage directions for “A Streetcar Named Desire” describe it in a similar way: “poor,” “weather grey,” “rickety,” and “faded white” (13). Because of this imagery, I believe the setting will represent a place that is supposed to be enjoyable but is really depressing instead.

Also in the stage directions, I immediately recognized the use of color (some of which I already noted above). Whether it be the “turquoise” sky, the “brown river,” the “Blue Piano,” or people’s skin color, the idea of color is already important in defining things, places, and people. Throughout scenes 1 and 2, color continued to appear in both stage notes and dialogue.

As for the characters, Eunice and Stella share a house, with Eunice living in the top apartment and Stella in the bottom. Stella is married to Stanley and has a sister named Blanche, who comes to visit New Orleans. When Blanche arrives, she is immediately described as nervous, proper, and out of place. Dressed in white (as it is a translation of her name), Blanche is horrified to see her little sister living in a tiny apartment. As we later learn, Blanche and Stella are from a wealthy, plantation family but, as Blanche tells Stella, Belle Reve, the property, was recently lost.

Overall, I think Blanche is an obstacle in what seems to be Stella and Stanley’s perfect life. Arriving out of nowhere, Blanche is already keeping secrets and has a constantly changing mood that causes tension for everyone in the apartment. Now that she’s learned about Stella’s pregnancy, she seems even more interested in intervening in her sister’s life. Because of this, I believe that like the ending of scene 2, the next sections will be “red-hot!”

The Great Gatsby Chapter 7

In chapter 7, we learn a lot more about each of the characters when Tom discovers Gatsby and Daisy’s affair. Set on the hottest day of the summer, we see another example of pathetic fallacy as the weather mimics the heat and anger between Gatsby and Tom.

Nick, Jordan, and Gatsby join Tom and Daisy at their house for lunch. Here, Daisy and Tom’s daughter, Pammy, is introduced. Gatsby’s surprised reaction shows his realization of Tom and Daisy’s relationship, as Pammy is a physical representation of their marriage. 

As the day progresses, Daisy and Gatsby outwardly show their affection for each other, causing Tom to become aware of their feelings. On the way to the city, Tom, Jordan, and Nick stop by Wilson’s garage, where they learn that Wilson discovered Myrtle’s affair, although he does not know it is with Tom. Nick comes to a realization, “I stared at him and then at Tom, who made a parallel discovery less than an hour before - and it occurred to me that there was no difference between the men” (95). It is interesting that this interaction takes place because it questions Tom’s morality. If he was okay with having an affair, why does he become so outraged when he learns of Daisy’s?

Later in New York City, Tom confronts Gatsby. Tom asks about Gatsby’s time at Oxford and we learn that Gatsby only spent five months there. We also learn that Tom’s assumption was right - Gatsby may be a bootlegger. Gatsby’s lies come back to bite him, as Daisy begins to have mixed feelings. At the start of the day, she couldn’t help but show her love for Gatsby, but as the fight continues, she admits that she did love Tom, “‘I did love him once - but I loved you too’” (100). Here, we see references to the past in both Gatsby and Tom’s relationship with Daisy.

Another notable event that happened in chapter 7 was Myrtle’s death. Returning home from the city, Myrtle is hit by a yellow car, believed to be Gatsby’s. We see a new side of Tom that contradicts what we know of him. Tom is angry and rough, but after Myrtle dies, Tom becomes caring as he tries to comfort Wilson. Tom also begins to sob as they drive back to West Egg, “In a little while I heard a low husky sob, and saw that the tears were overflowing down his face” (108). While Tom believes Gatsby was driving the car, Gatsby admits to Nick that it was Daisy. We see Gatsby’s continuing love for Daisy as he says he will take the blame for her, and watches her inside the house to make sure she is okay.

I would love to discuss Tom's reaction to Daisy's infidelity, knowing that he has had many affairs, as well as how Gatsby and Daisy's relationship seems to change during Tom and Gatsby's fight.

The Great Gatsby - Chapters 5 and 6

Chapter 5 opens with a description of Gatsby’s house being lit up and making the surrounding area look like it’s on fire, possibly a reference to the cover. Gatsby is getting ready for his tea with Daisy and passive aggressively tells Nick that he needs to fo the same. Then, Gatsby offers Nick a way to make some extra money, but with fear that it might not be a normal job, Nick turns it down.

In this chapter, the reunion of Gatsby and Daisy took place and it is nothing like how I imagined it would go. This is the first time we have seen Gatsby look anything less than perfect, breaking his illusion that he has put on for the world. He is described as “pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes” (84). He was also noticeably scatter-brained.

When Daisy arrived, Gatsby left Nick’s house and then knocked, furthering the illusion of this whole tea. The way Gatsby acted really threw me off when I first read it, but now it makes sense. He is described as “pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets”, “in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease”, and looking with “tense, unhappy eyes” (86, 87). This discomfort is because, like we talked about in class, he has built this moment up so much in his head that, now when it’s actually happening, he is trying to make sure it plays out the way he imagined it to. At the end of the chapter, Nick even says “there must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams--not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (95). Throughout the whole encounter, Gatsby is looking for Daisy’s approval and, as Nick says, revaluing everything according to her response.

There is a shift in Gatsby’s character after Nick leaves and examines Gatsby’s house and then comes back in, “he literally glowed” (89). I thought this was a quick switch and wonder what happened while Nick was gone.

The idea of illusion was apparent when Nick described the rooms as if there were “guests concealed behind every couch and table, under orders to be breathlessly silent until we had passed through” (91). It’s almost like there were people staged in each room to make sure Gatsby looks perfect in Daisy’s eyes, but it’s not Gatsby doing the work. Along the house tour, they encounter a man, Mr. Klipspringer, who is doing “liver exercises” (91). At first, I thought this was a figment of Nick’s imagination, but after Gatsby calls him in to play the piano, I realized he was real and “liver exercises” are probably a reference to drinking.

The green light reappeared during this chapter, but nothing was revealed about it other than that Gatsby noticed it every night.

Throughout this whole chapter, I was confused as to whether or not Daisy likes Gatsby or not. In the beginning, I got the sense that she didn’t but in the end, I started to think she did.

In chapter 6, it is revealed that Jay Gatsby’s name is not really Jay Gatsby, or at least it didn’t used to be. He changed his name from James Gatz when he was 17. This is just one more example of the illusion that he has created and Nick recognizes this, “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself” (98). This helps explain why we see Gatsby being selfish and passive several times: because he is still playing the character he made up when he was a teenager. It is also revealed that he lied about where he was from and where he went to college, so it can be inferred that he has lied about other things as well. He is actually from North Dakota and went to a small Lutheran college in Minnesota, but only for two weeks.

In this chapter, there was also a strange encounter between Gatsby, Nick, Tom, a man named Sloane, and a woman without a name. I’m not sure why this happened but it seems very strange for Gatsby to have his love interest’s husband over. He even outed himself to Tom when he says, “‘I know your wife,’ continued Gatsby, almost aggressively” (102) and later Tom ponders, “‘I wonder where in the devil he met Daisy. By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me’” (103). This also bothered me because Tom has no right to hold Daisy on a short leash when he is running around with another woman.

During the party, Daisy gives Nick permission to kiss her at any time throughout the evening. This confused me because they don’t have a romantic relationship and she is his cousin…

Along with Tom expressing his concern with Daisy running around, there is growing tension between Tom and Daisy in this chapter.

The most important part of chapter 6, in my opinion, was the conversation between Nick and Gatsby at the end when Nick says that you can’t repeat the past and Gatsby says “‘Why of course you can!’” and then “‘I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before...she’ll see’” (110). This further proves that he is immature and unrealistic. He is stuck in the past, holding on to feelings he felt 5 years ago.

Chapters 5 and 6 were full of a lot of new information revealing more about Gatsby’s actual life and what is just his illusion. I’m interested to see how Gatsby’s plan of bringing back the past is going to play out, but my guess is not very well.

            Chapter 4 gives us a lot of insight that helps to understand the characters, especially Gatsby. Nick does this by getting the perspectives of Gatsby, Meyer Wolfshiem, and Jordan Baker. The chapter begins with Nick describing all the people that come to Gatsby’s parties. These people live extravagant lives, but there are so many that you don’t remember any of them. He then describes a day trip he took with Gatsby to New York. Gatsby calls for this outing because of a certain matter that Jordan will later talk to him about. On the way there, Gatsby once again starts talking about himself and how he was raised by a wealthy family in the Midwest, traveled around Europe collecting precious jewels, and went to Oxford. Nick is suspicions about whether Gatsby is telling the truth. When Gatsby is pulled over by a cop for speeding, he flashes a white card and the police lets him go and apologizes for stopping him. This goes to show how Gatsby and others of his wealth live in an elite society that has different rules than those of the regular community.

            When at lunch, Gatsby introduces Nick to Wolfshiem who is said to be responsible fixing the 1919 World Series by gambling. At this point, we can tell Nick is in the midst of rich men doing shady business. By the way Wolfshiem talks to Gatsby, Nick thinks that Gatsby may have something to do with some underground business. When Gatsby and Nick are finishing their meal, Nick sees Tom Buchanan and brings Gatsby over to meet him. When they shook hands, “a strained, unfamiliar look of embarrassment came over Gatsby’s face,” (74). Gatsby quickly leaves, which leaves us being confused and thinking that Gatsby must know Mr. Buchanan in some way. This is the only person whom Gatsby has put up a cold front to, which will be explained later in the chapter.

            When Nick meets up with Jordan later that day, Jordan explains Daisy Buchanan’s past, the same subject she was talking to Gatsby about at his party. She recounts to Nick that during the war Daisy fell in love with Gatsby, who was then a military officer and stationed near her home in Louisville, Kentucky. When he left to go overseas, Daisy married Tom Buchanan, but before her wedding Jordan found her “as drunk as a monkey” with a bottle of wine in one hand and a letter from Gatsby in the other. Ever since, Daisy has not seen nor heard of Gatsby until Nick brings him up in the first chapter. However, we learn that Gatsby bought the mansion he lives in to be near Daisy and has waited five years until he’s had the perfect moment to reconnect with her, which is available with the help of Nick. Gatsby’s desperation for Daisy is very unlike his professional and powerful appearance, and is very alike to F. Scott Fitzgerald in that he did everything to get the girl. Gatsby’s master plan is that Nick will invite Daisy over to his house while he is there in hope that they will reconnect. Some interesting topics from this chapter to discuss would be the new side of Gatsby we learn of, what Wolfshiem gives us insight to, and Jordan and Nick’s place in Gatsby’s plan to reconnect with Daisy.

Hamlet Act III Scenes 2-3

   Act III Scenes 2-3 are interesting, exposing, and quite hilarious if you ask me. Scene 2 begins with Hamlet preparing the performers for the play to put on in front of the court. Hamlet still does not know for sure whether his father's ghost is from heaven or hell so to find the truth, he gives Horatio the job of watching Claudius's reactions throughout the climatic moments of the play. It was so obvious the whole time how bitter Hamlet was about all of the terrible things going on in his life. He constantly made degrading and snappy marks to Ophelia and Gertrude such as saying that the prologue was as brief as a woman's love. I find it interesting how he is being so upfront about his anger and judgement as he says, "What should a man do but be merry? for look you how cheerfully my mother looks, and my father died withins two hours" (110). The best part about this scene was how Hamlet pretended to not know what was to come of the play. I found myself laughing after the Player Queen said "None wed the second but who killed the first" and Hamlet says "That's bitter".  Hamlet even had the nerve to ask his mother after that scene if she liked the play....that was bold. I originally thought the play would hint at the idea of a man killing his brother and taking his wife, but I was shocked to see how literal and obvious everything was. The name Lucianus is incredibly similar to the name Claudius if you rearrange the letters. When Claudius asks Hamlet about the name of the play, he goes into a long overdue description and blatantly points out Claudius's guilt by saying, "Your majesty, and we that have free souls, it touches us not" (220).
    It was nice to see Hamlet finally receive some truth about this situation when Claudius stormed out of the castle, revealing the honesty and goodness of the ghost. In scene 3, we are able to see the inside thoughts of Claudius as he confesses his sins. He does feel guilt but at the same time, he does not want to give up what he has gained and his prayer shows that he does not regret his actions. I really wish that Hamlet would have just struck him down at this moment, but I guess I can understand his reasoning.
   In class, I would like to discuss the reason behind Shakespeare making this Act so funny, Hamlet's overly blunt attitude, and the conversation he has with Guilderstern and Rosencrantz because I was quite confused. I am excited to keep reading.

Hamlet Act III, Scene 1

Act III, scene 1 contains some of the most iconic Hamlet moments and is painful to read, and the plot becomes tumultuous from multiple perspectives. The act opens with Claudius discussing Hamlet’s strange behavior with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who aren’t able to conclude the source behind Hamlet’s strange actions. They realize that Hamlet is enthusiastic about the actors and theater, so they tell the king and queen about this. They decide to see the play that evening, but are still perplexed as to why Hamlet has been acting in such a disheveled and odd manor. Polonius and Claudius make plans to spy on Hamlet in secret, their mischievous intentions shining through. They want to see if Hamlet’s love, or lack thereof, for Ophelia has driven him mad. Claudius shows guilt in this moment, reflecting on the murder of King Hamlet in an aside: “Oh, tis too true/ How smart a lash that speech that speech doth give my conscience!/ The harlot’s check, beautied with plastering art/ Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it/ Than is my deed to my most painted word/ O heavy burden!” (3.1.49-54).

              As Hamlet enters, he delivers his famous “To be or not to be” speech. He grapples with the idea of committing suicide, wondering if he should fight through his struggles or end his life. Through his words, the reader is able to get a glimpse of how dark Hamlet's mind truly is at this point in the story. He makes points about death and the fact that as people, we ultimately have a will to live because we fear what comes after death. This idea made me wonder about Shakespeare’s late son, Hamnet, who died before the play was written, and how Hamlet’s character was inspired by Shakespeare’s life events. I wonder if Hamlet’s iconic speech was influenced by Shakespeare’s own uncertainty about what comes after death, since the sadness and agonizing tone of the speech is reflective of what Shakespeare must’ve been feeling at the time.

              Ophelia enters as Hamlet is still deep in thought, attempting to return Hamlet’s gifts to her. Hamlet angrily denies giving her the gifts and claims to have loved her, then denying it almost immediately, causing an argumentative tone to emerge from their conversation. Hamlet’s behavior escalades as he criticizes all women before storming out. Claudius and Polonius then emerge, saying that Hamlet’s behavior is a result of insanity, not just love for Ophelia. They make plans to send Hamlet to England in hopes that the vacation will help him act normally again.

Hamlet Act I Scenes 3-5

Throughout Act I scenes 3-5 the reader gains a better sense of the purpose and personalities behind the characters. Scene 3 begins with Laertes boarding the ship before he embarks on his travels. A personal conversation between Laertes and Ophelia about the the fling and flirtation between her and Hamlet follows this. Laertes offers his concerns and disproving remarks as he is skeptical of where Hamlet’s loyalties truly lie, even though he may provide Ophelia with a sense of emotional security with his reassuring thoughts. One thing that I found interesting about this interaction was Ophelia’s response to Laertes. Ophelia expresses that she will listen to his advice and remarks, although he should be wary of his words if they contradict with his actions. I also found the dynamic between Laertes and Ophelia interesting as on one hand I saw him being a caring brother who was trying to protect his sister, although on the other hand, his tone seems slightly condescending. I am interested to see how the relationship between Laertes and Ophelia is represented throughout the rest of the play. The scene concludes with Ophelia and her father Polonius sharing a similar conversation about Hamlet.

Scenes 4 and 5 follow Hamlet along with Horatio and Marcellus on night watch waiting for the ghost to appear. When the ghost finally does make an appearance, Hamlet is summoned and by the ghost to converse in private and Hamlet begs his friends to not follow him, although that is the complete opposite of what they do. I found this interesting and also slightly ironic as at the end of the scene they are repeatedly sworn to secrecy and bound by Hamlets wishes, although they had broken his one request just minutes before. I am curious to see if events like this become a trend throughout the play, because I feel as though eventually something like this could turn into a real problem. I am also interested to explore the idea of whether the spirit that visits Hamlet is good or evil. To Hamlet, the prospect of a good versus evil ghost is almost irrelevant to him as he feels as though it would have no impact on his spirit. Although whether he is aware or not, I feel that the ghost could possibly bring out a negative side of Hamlet if the revenge consumes him. Connecting back to earlier scenes, I feel as though there is a motif of skewed communication and hearing, because as we saw through the conversations between Ophelia and Laertes and Ophelia and Polonius, there seemed to be an air of manipulation. This motif also ties into the fact that the King was poisoned through his ear, yet everyone was told that he was killed by a snake bite. I am curious to see the ways in which this motif and other motifs and symbols occur again throughout the play.

18-20

In chapters eighteen through twenty, the climax of Janie’s story occurs. Finally, when she has everything that she wants, the hands of God take it all away from her. When reading, I felt most frustrated by Tea Cake and Janie’s refusal to leave the muck despite watching other people and animals seek safety for many days. To the reader, it seems obvious that Janie and Tea Cake should leave. Then, when a rabid dog bites Tea Cake, the fate of the storm and the couple’s decision not to escape is sealed.

Although it’s an emotional and violent scene, my favorite part of the chapters was the final fight between Janie and Tea Cake when she is forced to shoot him. Hurston’s description maps out every second of the event so that Janie’s feelings are palpable even to the reader. Then, in the aftermath, Janie must come to terms with the ending of her dream and learn to appreciate life without having Tea Cake by her side. I believe that because of her conversation with Phoeby she is finally able to have closure with Tea Cake; Janie decides that despite their premature end, she lived for herself and “pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net” (193). Janie ends her story-telling with words that she preaches to Phoeby, but I believe she is truly saying them to herself: “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). These final words struck me because they connect not only to the title, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” but they also remain true to Janie’s beliefs and the themes of the novel.

Although I wish that Janie didn’t have to go through losing Tea Cake, Hurston ties up her most prevalent themes with his death. Not only does Janie get to live her pear blossom dream, but she moves on knowing the love lasted until Tea Cake’s dying moment. The words spoken between the couple during Tea Cake’s last bit of sanity reveal to Janie once again that their love is unique to all others’ in the world. Knowing this, she puts Tea Cake to rest and begins her next dream, just as she has done before.

Chapters 14-17

In Chapters 14-17, Janie and Tea Cake move to the fertile fields of the Everglades and begin their new life in the muck. Soon after they settle their house becomes the center of the community where people hang out and listen to Tea Cake play his guitar. There seems to be a parallel between Tea Cake’s house and Joe Starks’s store. Both provided a place for people to play games and chat, showing a connection between Joe Starks and Tea Cake that may not have been there before.

For the first time, Janie makes her own decision to work, a change from her previous life. Tea Cake begins to stop by the house during work hours, claiming he was lonely. After suggesting that Janie should join him in the fields, Janie decides to fulfill his request. Since working in Logan Killicks’s fields, Janie finally works out of her own jurisdiction. This shows a new freedom of which Janie was deprived, contributing to her increase of individuality that she finds with Tea Cake.

During the offseason, Janie spends time with Mrs. Turner, a black woman who despises black people. Mrs. Turner’s perspective on race proposes an interesting take on racism. For the first time in the novel, racism is presented. However, Mrs. Turner’s racism is blurry and confusing, as she is a black woman. Mrs. Turner worships whiteness, respecting Janie more for her white characteristics than who she is. The significance of this type of racism emphasizes the strength of racism and how it can even seduce African-Americans. I believe that Hurston was intentional about presenting racism for the first time in the novel in this way; to stress the fear that all people have and how it can manifest itself into hatred and shame.

Ch. 7-10 of Their Eyes Were Watching God

While reading chapters 7-10 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, I noticed how much Janie’s character develops. At first, Janie is depicted almost ghost-like and lacks any emotion. Her entire life has been living for Joe and his demands. But, as Joe continues to throw verbal attacks at her about her appearance, she undergoes a change. When Janie has had enough of his insults, she finally fires back. Joe feels as if his entire manhood has been robbed from him, and we see his subsequent descent from health and ultimately his death. I believe that this scene completely changes the dynamic between the couple.

In the conversation on Joe's deathbed, Janie is finally speaking her mind to Joe. It feels as if she has reached some sort of clarity and regained her strength. She tells Joe that the years with him have ruined her mind and he still knows nothing about her. I found this scene very powerful not only because of her conviction but also because to the very moment he dies, Joe still clings onto a strand of superiority by not listening to what she's saying. After he dies, Janie feels pity and like a weight has been lifted off of her chest. Even though he was terrible to her, Janie still acknowledges how life has mistreated Joe which I found to show the strength of her character.

After that, Janie lets down her hair for the first time in years and sees a handsome woman in the mirror. From this moment on, Janie is a free woman. Her character undergoes a huge shift from the obedient, silent wife to an independent woman. I believe that Janie’s denying of suitors also shows how she is relishing in her new life. It is also important to note how desperate the town is for her to marry because they are uncomfortable with a female business owner.

Also in these chapters, we are introduced to Tea Cake. Tea Cake’s approach to her was opposite of other men, especially Joe. They speak to each other as equals and play checkers, which Joe always forbade. Janie and Tea Cake immediately hit it off and she feels comfortable and safe around him.

Overall, these chapters were a huge turning point for Janie and her dreams. But, the theme of female inferiority is still present through the town’s reaction to an independent woman.

The Crucible Act IV

In Act IV of The Crucible, everyone has seemingly reached a breaking point. Abigail has fled Salem, the court is done waiting for confessions, and hundreds of accused townspeople have confessed to crimes they did not commit. This is where people’s true colors come out. Hale has strayed from the ideas of the other members of the court and is working night and day to save the lives of those accused. Court members such as Danforth are obviously worried that they killed twelve innocent people, and now they are in too deep to stop the murders. So Danforth refuses to delay the hangings so that no doubt can be placed on his decisions by the townspeople. He is valuing the integrity of the court over innocent people’s lives, as well as condemning himself by killing people even though he probably knows he is wrong.

At this point, Proctor has been in a dungeon for three months, and he is trying to decide whether to confess. It is clear that these people accused of conspiring with the devil are devoted Christians, though, because of how they refuse to lie. They see lying as a sin and reject the option to save themselves by doing so. They would rather die pure than live as a sinner. This seems like the most obvious sign that someone has not compacted with the devil.

Near the very end, when Proctor has chosen to hang, Rebecca Nurse says, “Let you fear nothing! Another judgment waits us all!” (Miller 133). This basically sums up the whole play. Those who confessed will be saved, and those who murdered innocent people will be condemned.

The Crucible Act I

From reading the introduction and Act I, I can already tell several things about this time in Massachusetts. Paranoia spread through the town at rapid speed, everything you said and everything you did was all watched closely and analyzed because there was always a chance you were possessed by the Devil. No one was safe and, as we said in class, betrayal was not uncommon by any stretch of the imagination.

I generally don’t like reading plays because they feel choppy but Miller uses notes and stage directions to make it read smoothly and cohesively. It’s ironic that we see in this opening scene that Reverend Parris’ daughter, Betty, is one of the girls accused of doing witchcraft. During this time, religion was the government and it was what people relied on in every aspect of their life, and the witch trials were really the first time religion was put to the test. You can see in the first act just how distraught Parris is that his daughter might have been participating in witchcraft. But, I don’t think he was really that worried about his daughter and her health, I think he really only cared about his reputation. He told Susanna, “Go home and speak nothing of unnatural causes” (9) and then pondered what he was going to tell people when they asked him about Betty.

When it was revealed that John Proctor and Abigail had an affair but that he no longer feels anything for her, it made me think that he was saying that because he didn’t want to be accused of being with a witch. I’m not sure it that is accurate, but it is an example of a betrayal that could happen during this time. Husbands and wives could turn on each other because one was accused, there were no limits. It was also interesting that an affair is already a betrayal between husband and wife, so it’s almost like “if you think this is bad wait until you see how other people betrayed their spouses”.

We know, looking back, that Betty was not possessed by the Devil when she collapsed at the sound of Jesus’ name and was instead, like Rebecca said, just an overwhelmed child who was ashamed of her un-Christian behavior and frightful of the punishment that could accompany her actions.

Act I laid the groundwork for the rest of the play by introducing issues that will continue to boil up and eventually overflow as well as some background knowledge about the witch trials that will be needed to understand the rest of the play.

            While Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” was very confusing for me at some points, his overall message is meaningful and a relevant message for today. Before reading this, the word “society” always made me think of positive aspects such as community, togetherness, and building off each other’s ideas. However, Emerson’s perspective of how society changes us is much different. Emerson argues that society makes us conform to social expectations and destroys one’s true self. In other words, instead of focusing on how your community can grow together, focus on yourself and your own goals. Self-reliance and independence from one’s community will make one feel confident and complete.

            Through metaphors and references to admired individuals, Emerson effectively argues that conforming to society is self-damaging. To Emerson, giving in to society is the equivalent to death because if you are not being yourself, you’re not actually living. He also personifies society as an evil that “loves not realities and creators, but names and customs,” (47). Emerson proves that being different is key to living a meaningful life by referencing known individuals: “Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood,” (49). At this point in Emerson’s argument, I fully understood and supported his message because I related it to all the individuals he mentions. All of them made history and are still admired because they were different and introduced a new idea to society. I love Emerson’s perspective on the importance of self-reliance, but he fails to mention how this benefits society. If everyone were just focused on themselves, how would the community grow as a whole? Instead of focusing on how one should reach their own goals, they should focus on how they can help their community such as the individuals like Luther and Socrates. Being independent and believing your own ideas is important, but belonging to a supportive community is also important.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is astonishing and powerful. After organizing a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested because of a lack of city permit for the movement. In his letter, King speaks as to why he decided to come to Birmingham to help organize the rally against the racial injustice present in the city. One interesting fact to note is that King smuggled out sections of the letter through his lawyer while spending time in jail.

In my sophomore year, I studied peaceful protests and people power movements. King’s peaceful protest approach to the discrimination in America throughout the civil rights movement is influenced by Gandhi, and it is prevalent in this letter. He approaches his audience captively and urgently to move people to become involved and fight for their own or other’s civil rights. One of my favorite quotes from this letter is “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This quote from King shows how he urges people to become involved. The idea of peaceful protests is to promote awareness for a situation in hope that the people power behind the movement grows large enough that the government feels persuaded to enact on it. Sometimes this works, and other times it fails miserably. King is an overall powerful speaker and influencer throughout the Civil Rights movement, and although this letter is very impactful to history, it is like other speeches and essays that he has written. However, King’s quote on injustice provides a staple for American intervention shown elsewhere in history. While reading this letter, one thing that surprised me was the similarities between the civil rights movement and some events in the present and past. When something goes wrong in other countries, America feels the need to intervene to try to set things right per our views. This quote reminded me of the intervention that the US has had in other people power movements as well such as the Lithuanian freedom line, the Turkish Orange Rebellion, and the feminist movement. King also introduces the idea of unjust versus just laws: “An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. ... By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.” This questioning that King introduces of right versus wrong allows provoking thoughts throughout the US in regards to civil rights, as well. Overall, King’s letter is powerful and eye-opening to those who may have been kept in the dark. 

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor

In Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, a grandmother attempts to convince her son, Bailey, and his wife to take their family to east Tennessee for vacation instead of Florida. To make her case, she points out an article about the Misfit, an escaped prisoner rumored to be heading towards Florida, also saying that the children have already been to Florida anyways. John Wesley and June Star (Bailey and his wife’s children) frequently give their input on the situation, June especially proving not to be afraid to share her opinion. I found the dynamic of the family to be very interesting and dysfunctional, annotating the texts with phrases like "the children have bad attitudes" and wondering why the grandmother sat in the back seat between the children. On their drive, the family stops at a restaurant called the Tower and meet the owner, Red Sammy Butts. He complains that people are untrustworthy, explaining that he recently let two men buy gasoline on credit. As they get back on the road, the grandmother insists on visiting a plantation she has visited before, which takes the trip deep into the woods. The story takes a turn, as they crash the car, which is witnessed by two men, who drive over to seemingly help them. We find out that one of the men is the Misfit, and the family soon meets their demise. Before shooting the grandmother, the Misfit debates about Jesus and being a Christian, revealing some of the possible reasons behind his criminal tendencies.

As I read more of O’Connor’s work, I enjoy it more and more because of the way in which she weaves her Christian morals into the story line seamlessly, still making the story eventful and meaningful to whoever reads it. My favorite part of the story was the debate about what Jesus means to him. The Misfit says that Jesus confused everything by raising the dead, and if what Jesus did is true, then everyone must follow him. But, if he didn’t raise the dead, then all anyone can do is enjoy their time on earth by getting caught up in “meanness.” The grandmother agrees on the idea that maybe Jesus didn’t raise the dead. The Misfit says he wishes he had been there so he could know for sure. Finally,The grandmother calls the Misfit “one of my own children,” and the Misfit shoots her in the chest three times. I think the theme behind this exchange this can be interpreted in many different ways, and I am interested in hearing the class' theories on what it means, diving deeper into the story.

Revelation by Flannery O'connor

Revelation is a short story surrounding Mrs. Turpin, an opinionated, blunt woman, who faces an internal struggle after an encounter at the Doctor's office. This story is based sometime around the mid 1900s when segregation, especially in the South, was still very prominent, and that is very evident throughout this story. It is interesting to see the way in which Mrs. Turpin, along with the other women and men in the doctors office, discuss African Americans in such a vulgar tone. One part of the story that I found particularly though provoking was as Mrs. Turpin was discussing how she wished she could ship all of African Americans back to Africa, even though that was not plausible. At one point Mrs. Turpin says," they're going to stay here where they can go to New York and marry white folks and improve their color. Thats what they all want to do, every one of them, improve their color (134)". I found this extremely shocking and obscene because Mrs. Turpin of the way she uses the word "improve". Not only does this quote show the way in which Mrs. Turpin views the aspirations of African Americans, but she generalizes them and degrades them immensely. This is also diminishing the culture of African Americans and assuming that they would want to shift their culture to white culture and even shift the color of their own skin.
Another part of the short story that I found interesting was directly after this comment as a song begins to play and says," We'll all blank along, together, and all along the bank, we'll help each other out (135)". Immediately I found this extremely ironic, due to the conversation that had been had previously, although what was even more ironic is how this song reminded Mrs. Turpin of how helpful and kind of a human she was herself. This shows just how oblivious and ignorant she was to believe that she could be so crude to African Americans. Through this encounter specifically, I feel that Mrs. Turpin considers African Americans as so inferior that she almost dehumanizes them, which allows her to not feel guilty for the way that she treats them.