Crucible+Act+I

Crucible Act I quiz:

1. Mrs. Putnam blaims the illness of her children on witchcraft no matter what evidence is found. Reverend Hale even explains that no form of witchcraft was found at the scene but she still continues to blame it on witchcraft. Mrs. Putnam's actions are relevant to the first decade of the 21 century. Everyday people go about their lives blaming all their problems on someone else just to keep themselves out of trouble. When people blame other people it is just a sign of guilt and weakness. For example President Bush is blaimed about all the economic flaws occuring. Little does the U.S citizens know that we are just at as just as much blame as President Bush, we are also responsible for how the the economy is today. By people blaming other people it releves stress and makes them feel less guilty of themselves. That's what makes the characterization of Mrs. Putnam relevant to the 21st century.

2. Reverend Parris puts himself in as being selfish. When I say this he puts himself before his people just to save his face. When he finds out about the witchcraft being present in his house he doesnt want it getting out to the public and having his reputation ruined and lose his positon as Reverend. In the first decade of the 21 century people going about their everday lives snitching on other people just save themselves not caring about the other person. Its mostly likely becasue they are ashamed of something they did or something they know they will get away with and that in itself is pitiful and people should be ashamed of themselves for just doing that.

Writing Prompt

In the "//Crucible"// the characters behavior relates to many of the effects on Salem. Throughout the play some characters are reactive towards situations and some are proactive towards situations. When someone is reactive it usually means they are the one to take charge and are quick to react. If someone is proactive it usually means that someone thinks about what they are going to say and not just blur something out that they might not even know whats right. In the "//Crucible"// we will recognize some character being proactive or either reactive towards upcoming events.

During Act I many events start to arise and cause dilemma. By these situations occuring it changes some of the characters behavior and can cause them to feel fear and shame. Fear is when you feel apprehensive toward something. Such as in when Act I begins and the word "witchcraft" gets out people start blaming other people in fear they will punished. The Putnams are a prime example of this. When Mrs. Putnam hears that 'witchcraft" is out she is reactive towards the situation and starts blaming witchcraft on all of her seven childrens deaths. Abigail is also reactive in a similar manner. Abigail knows the truth of what happened in the beginning of Act I when they were dancing in the woods. In fear she tries to save her face, by taking charge and telling all the girls not to tell anyone about what happened. Once Parris hears that his daughter (Betty) is ill and hears about witchcraft we see he is in both shame and fear due to the dilemma. He is reactive and is freaks out over the whole situation and is only worried about himself at the same moment . He fears he will lose his position in Salme and will be ashamed if it gets out to Salme that witchcraft is existant in his house.

Similar reactions occur throughout Act I but are reacted in different ways. Other character are proactive towards the whole "witchcraft" idea. In Act I we know Abigail is fired from Elizabeth (Proctors wife) her job working for John Proctor and her. She is fired becasue Elizabeth finds out about the secret affair with her husband. While all the caos is happening John Proctor tells Abigial flat out he wants nothing to do with her and doens not want any parts of her. Although he confessed he still feels ashamed that he had an affair with Abigail and fears he will lose his public reputation because of this. Although we mentioned Parris as being reactive he is also proactive in way also. When word gets out he doesnt know where to begin with the problem and calls Reverend Hale to help him reassure his problem. Reverened is another character that is proactive. When he is trying to reassure Proctor he considers of getting rid of the idea of witchcraft.

As we know this really doesnt pass during the next few Acts. Suspicion arises in the town and many of the characters named are put into jail and are on trial. By them being trialed they must confess to what has happened. In modern day we all know people dont just confess to the truth. This is what actually happens in the "//Crucible"// and noone will confess. They all just blame each other for what has happened in fear they wont be hung or to save their own face. Salem will have to soon realize that everyone is only worried about them self. This will bring the town believe they are selfish. By people only worrying about themselves it reflects off of other towns and they will see Salme as liars and selfishness. Once trial begins to deepen "witchcraft" will soon get out. One other towns hear about this they will be in total dismay and the whole town of Salem will be outcasted. Sooner of later Salem will crumble and only be remebered as having "witchcraft" and selfish towns people.

All and all characters behavior not only effects other characters but also makes a label for themselves. Characters behavior can put fear and shame into someone and having fear is nothing compared to having shame. With having shame you have to live with it and having fear you can over come it. These feelings can tear someone apart and it can make a city crumble as we have learned throughout reading the "//Crucible".// By being either reactive or proactive you have to look beyone whats happening and think about the situation. You cannont be in a situation and get yourself out of it by blaming others and being selfish. If its one think I learned it to always speak the truth so you know your not looking the the bad one when a bad situation happens.