Individual Villainy
"When one rises above the individual villainy displayed, one can only pity them all, just as we shall be pitied someday. It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions, and the balance has yet to be struck between order and freedom" (Miller 7).
Do you, like Miller, pity the people of late 17th century Salem? Do you think that we will be pitied one day? Do agree that repression is an inherent part of organized social life?
Do you, like Miller, pity the people of late 17th century Salem? Do you think that we will be pitied one day? Do agree that repression is an inherent part of organized social life?
posted by Kristin L | 8:55 AM
9 Comments:
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I pity the people in Salem in some sense; I think that it is sad that the people resorted to thinking that there were witches in the community, and that they couldn't come up with a better explanation. I think that is was very unfair for the people who were accused just because they were an easy target for this theory of the Puritan people. They didn't believe the same things, or they didn’t have a high status in the society, such as slaves or women. The worst part is that innocent people were killed. Maybe someday people will look back on our society and pity us, but I don’t know what they will say, we will only know when that time comes.
yes i do pity the people of Salem, for many reasons, first i think that their knowledge, was vey limited. one example being medical knowledge. if the doctors had been more knowledgeable aobut the girl's sickness then they would not have said that "the only way to explain the sickness was witchcraft". I also think that people of that time period, especially in the small village of Salem, had very limited points of view. they did not know any other religion, other than theirs and witchcraft. they did not embrace anything in the unknown and it putthen in a disadvantaged position. i do think that people a thousand years from now will pity us and say "wow they didn't know anything compared to what we know now!" that is just how it will be as mankind keeps making discoveries and broadening their scope of knowledge
Like Miller, I also pity those involved in the Salem witch trails. The situation seems almost like the one that caused the early Americans to leave England. They left for freedom of religion and the opportunity to do and worship what they choose. By killing or imprisoning those who were involved in witchcraft, it is going against everything that the pilgrims’ left England for. I think that someday we may be pitied as individuals, but most likely, because of the rules and regulations set up by the government, no large group like this will ever be pitied due to an American injustice; but possibly for an attack by outsiders like 9/11. Repression to a certain degree, I believe is part of a society. For things to run smoothly there must be some sort of organization, but not complete oppression.
I do pity the characters in The Crucible for they are unable to realize the ignorance and madness of their actions. I believe that the pendulum of societal repression swings back and forth such that there are certain times of great injustice. if not legally then at the very leasy idealogically. Whether or not now is one of those times relative to the future, I am unsure; what I do know is hindsight is 20/20 and people will make their own decisions about our society just as we have done with the community in Salem.
Repression is only a part of social life for those who do not have a strong enough will to stand up for their beliefs. One need look no further than this high school to observe it. People are so afraid of what others might say that they are not themselves and live with repression and bottled up insecurity just as I suspect may of those living in Salem did.
Like Miller, I also pity those involved in the Salem witch trails. The situation seems almost like the one that caused the early Americans to leave England. They left for freedom of religion and the opportunity to do and worship what they choose. By killing or imprisoning those who were involved in witchcraft, it is going against everything that the pilgrims’ left England for. I think that someday we may be pitied as individuals, but most likely, because of the rules and regulations set up by the government, no large group like this will ever be pitied due to an American injustice; but possibly for an attack by outsiders like 9/11. Repression to a certain degree, I believe is part of a society. For things to run smoothly there must be some sort of organization, but not complete oppression.
I do pity the characters in The Crucible for they are unable to realize the ignorance and madness of their actions. I believe that the pendulum of societal repression swings back and forth such that there are certain times of great injustice. if not legally then at the very leasy idealogically. Whether or not now is one of those times relative to the future, I am unsure; what I do know is hindsight is 20/20 and people will make their own decisions about our society just as we have done with the community in Salem.
Repression is only a part of social life for those who do not have a strong enough will to stand up for their beliefs. One need look no further than this high school to observe it. People are so afraid of what others might say that they are not themselves and live with repression and bottled up insecurity just as I suspect may of those living in Salem did.
I pity the people of Salem. I pity the people that were condemned in innocence and the people who did the "condemning". I also pity the people that were consumed by what was taking place in their town and how they expanded on the events that occurred and used them to their own advantage. I think people that live now will also be pitied someday for appearing incredibly naive in things like decisions, society, and government. I agree that repression is an inherent part of organized social life because people keep other people "in line", and when repression is totally ignored, people go totally free, which makes everything get out of control. (Remember the Sixties.)
I would not go so far as to say that I pity the people of the 17th century. They knew less about the world they lived in than we do now. But at the same time, they knew more about it then people centuries before them. Every generation will learn new things about the world that they live in. In the 17th century, they had a sort of paranoia, but this was understandable because they didn’t know what lay beyond the forest boundaries that they had stayed within their entire lives. The idea of an entire country, with vast expanses of desert, ice, and water, was beyond them. They had a sense of individual villainy because of this paranoia. I don’t think that they pitied themselves any more than we pity ourselves, and I don’t think that they would want us to pity them. Everyone in our society would say that we are 150% more advanced than they were back then, and that we as a people do not pity ourselves for our accomplishments. In the future years, people will learn more about our universe than we know now and if given enough time, what we know now will seem like so little. People in the future may feel the same way about us as we do about people of the 17th century but I certainly would not want them to pity us because what we know and what we have accomplished so far is worth honor, not pity. So no, I do not pity the people of the past any more than I pity our present society.
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