The Great Gatsby Chapters 1 and 2

The Great Gatsby begins with the narrator Nick Carraway describing himself and his extraordinary self-awareness. His immediate confessions offer insight into the character yet doubt in his honesty. Nick has moved from the West Coast to the West Egg region off of Long Island merely a few days ago, and all he knows there is his cousin Daisy in East Egg, and small tidbits regarding his next door neighbor Gatsby. The last half of this chapter sees Nick eating dinner with Daisy, her husband Tom, and Daisy's friend Jordan Baker. The dinner proves to be odd as Tom's manner ranges from brutish to oddly depressed and philosophical. Things really heat up when Tom's "girl in the city" calls and interrupts the odd meal. Though this is a critical aspect to the dinner, we also learn a lot about Daisy. She has a youthful, naive joy about her even though she tells Nick she is cynical and unhappy. Immediately we are introduced to the conflict in Daisy's character, her inner and outer selves. Nick describes her as utterly charismatic and sweet, but what else does she have in store for us? Chapter two regards Tom's mistress and an informal get-together in the city. The circumstances seem quite odd, as Mrs. Wilson and Tom embrace their adultery openly and wish to share it with Nick. Nick tags along in a trip to the city where Mrs. Wilson buys a puppy. She asks for a police dog specifically but doesn't get one. A puppy is a seemingly odd, spontaneous purchase for a married woman. At the apartment we meet Myrtle's (Mrs. Wilson's) sister Catherine, and Mr and Mrs McKee- all weird, self-centered characters that seem to compete for attention even at the detriment to their manners and impressions on others. The night ends with Tom breaking Myrtle's nose with an angry slap after she repeatedly says his wife’s name, once again reminding us of his boyish brutishness. Why does he get upset when his marriage is miserable? Nick leaves bewildered and drunk, leading us to question the validity of the evening’s retelling and the night’s aftermath.

Act IV and "Echoes Down the Corridor"

The question that needs to be asked is whether or not this ending is a tragedy or not. Act four starts three months after Proctor’s initial accusation of witchcraft. Proctor was given two options: confess to witchcraft by signing his name to a written confession or to hang with his name intact (somewhat). At this time, the court has hung multitudes of innocent people, and there are many would only deem it fair that the remaining be hung as well, even though they are knowingly sentencing innocent people to their deaths. Reverend Hale is aware of this, and he has returned to the town to convince the accused to confess to witchcraft so that they may protect their lives. This is where the question of tragedy lies. Is it tragic that these innocent people ruin their lives because they confessed to “running with the Devil,” or is it brilliant that they were able to live? Proctor would evidently argue that he would rather protect what little remained of his good name. Reverend Hale begged Proctor to choose life, but Proctor was not going to let his own name be run through the dirt any more than it already had from his affair. In a final attempt to appeal to Proctor, the court brings out Elizabeth, who is pregnant, for him to see just minutes before his sentencing. Elizabeth pleads with him to protect his life and to stay by her side. After all, he has a kid that will be born in six months. Proctor gives in for a moment until he is told that he must sign a confession that will be posted on the church doors. He sees this as a public condemnation, so he chose to “still have my name.” Is it tragic that Proctor died for an act that he did not commit, or is it brilliant that he was consistent with his morals and did not deteriorate his name? I think that was meant to be up to the interpretation of the reader; otherwise, Miller would have given a more concrete ending. I feel as though Miller wanted an ending that would be left up to interpretation, but there were too many unresolved conflicts. That being said, “Echoes Down the Corridor” is an attempt to quickly wrap up the hanging pieces, an attempt, in my opinion, that failed due to its lack of background and clarifications. 

The Crucible: Act II

Act II begins with Elizabeth preparing dinner for John in their home eight days after Betty, Abigail, and the other girls blamed multiple women in Salem of witchcraft. While John eats, he and Elizabeth discuss these current events and specifically Abigail’s involvement with them which creates tension. Soon, Mary returns to their home after being in court and mentions that Elizabeth had been accused by Abigail during the trial. The readers also discover that thirty nine women have already been placed in jail. This news completely shocked me as I immediately was scared for these innocent people who could be hanged all because of a silly prank. Suddenly, Hale appears in their doorway to confront the couple about their large sum of absences from church. John attempts to prove himself of being a good Christian man by claiming he helped build the church and by reciting the Ten Commandments. However, he ironically cannot remember one: “Thou shall not commit adultery”. Eventually, Giles and Cheever show up at the Proctor house, and so does Francis but with a warrant to arrest Elizabeth. She is accused of stabbing Abigail by performing some sort of voodoo ritual by stabbing a doll that represented her. Finally, John promises to expose the truth to the town with the help of Mary. Overall, the extreme amount of paranoia and imagination the townspeople are experiencing is frightening. I am also surprised that Hale and the other leaders of the trial are not trying to convert the “witches” back to Christianity but instead threaten them with death.

The Crucible: Act I

From early on in act one, the reader can feel the tensions and panic looming over Salem and Reverend Parris' home. The play opens with Parris frantically praying in the upstairs of his home. We quickly learn however that he is not concerned with the health of his child but rather with his image and reputation as a religious leader in the town. Next, we meet the Putnams. Similarly to Parris, this couple is largely concerned with their own image and wielding social power over the town. It is said that the Putnam name can be found on many accusations against other people in the town. The idea of having a clean reputation is a common theme throughout act one. Conflict arises between different individuals such as Parris and Abigail, Proctor and Putnam and Parris, as well as Putnam and Giles. All of these people attempt to divert blame from themselves in order to maintain a clean reputation. 

Betrayal is also a large theme throughout the first act. After insisting to her friends who were also present at the event in the woods that the story remained to be that they danced and nothing else, Abigail was quick to throw Tituba under the bus. She fully removes herself from blame and puts it all on Tituba. This causes Tituba to begin confessing for fear of worse consequences. In reality, it did not matter whether or not Tituba was actually guilty of her accusations. This is because tensions were coming to a head, and Hale wanted desperately to find a dramatic answer. Tituba also then begins betraying other people by listing names of people who were witches. Betty and Abigail both join in this behavior until at least a dozen other names had been listed. I found this behavior highly disturbing. The girls were ruining other people's lives by associating them with witchcraft, yet they were making a chanting spectacle of it.

Pre-Crucible Research

In the video "What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen?", it explained the vicious cycle that seemed to take over America in the 1950's. Senator McCarthy released an alleged list of Communists and accused them of committing treason without proper evidence. Innocent people would be thoroughly questioned and forced to incriminate their friends and neighbors because if they didn't cooperate then they may lose their job and become blacklisted. This entire era seems confusing, because our government was acting out of fear instead of reason. It was confusing why was everyone so quick to believe McCarthy. The Salem Witch Trials in "The Crucible" is written with the intent of referencing McCarthyism. The Introduction discusses how "The Crucible" focuses on the psychological effects on a community and the social contract and respect that binds a community together. Miller provides this background of the Trials to help us understand the beliefs of the Puritans and not just dismiss them as "crazy people". They genuinely believed that the devil was influencing them through witchcraft. Some people even believe that the Puritans didn't have a form of confession, or a healthy way to deal with sin, so by blaming their sins on witches and the devil, they wouldn't be held accountable for their wrongdoings. This also helps to explain why so many were so willing to accuse their friends and neighbors, so that the sin wouldn't fall on them. Their strict religious lifestyle is driving their fear and paranoia. The introduction sets up the play to bring light on the wrongs of society and also to teach the moral lesson of how sensitive issues like these are still relevant to our society today. The way Miller writes is almost like a warning about what can happen when fear leads to mass hysteria. There was also some danger with publishing this play during this time. But he explains that "his criticism, is not to be confused with hatred." His purpose is rather to raise awareness of the imperfections of society.