The Modern Puritan

    The Puritans, according to history and literature, were viewed as a group of American settlers who followed strict laws of their religions so tediously that even the slightest sin meant that you were bound to damnation. They tried to live their lives with such perfections that they overlooked or disapproved anything outside their religious lifestyle and rules. In today’s society the Puritan lifestyle is considered Amish or to some people nonexistent. However, the type of lifestyle that the Puritans lived can be found in any grouping or close organization that fosters an imperial identity of how their members should live, like cults for instance.       Cults, although secret, are formed so that people can follow some religious aspect or ideal.
Cults are similar to the Puritans by how in certain cults, people have to dress a certain way, have their hair a certain way, and even act a certain way to proclaim that they are a member of any cult they are a part of.  The difference, and this goes for all close organizations or groupings, are that even though these people live by this singular ideal, they don’t exert strict laws like the Puritans did. If so, then the leaders of those groups would be considered “The Modern Day Puritans.”

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

            Currently my English class was assigned to read The Crucible, a famous story rewritten into a play by Arthur miller, which later became a movie.  The Crucible was mainly a story about how a young girl’s lust and deceptions lead to anarchy in Salem, a small puritan town in 1692. The puritans basically lived their lives by every word in the bible and believed that even the smallest sin would send them to damnation unless they repented directly after confessing their sins. One of the most deadly sins to the puritans was witchcraft. Anyone caught doing witchcraft or even accused of it was sentence to death by hanging, which was exactly how the young girl known as Abigail Williams, caused a widespread of chaos in Salem after she had a sexual affair with a married man named John Proctor. Abigail worked as a servant in the Proctor household and when the wife learned of the affair she fired Abby. Abby hated John’s wife Elizabeth so much that she drank blood so that Elizabeth could die and Abigail could have John. This lust that Abigail had, changed into these continuous lies that lead to both Elizabeth and John getting arrested for witchcraft. The judges of the town whole-heartedly regarded Abigail’s lies that they hung innocent people for it. The fact these judges hung innocent and well respected people caused the citizens of the town to question the court so much that the judges forced Elizabeth to try and convince her husband to confess to using witchcraft, even though he never did. John was going to confess because he wanted to live but soon realized the motives behind why the judges wanted him to disclose; they wanted to win back the trust of the townsfolk. I thought that John Proctor was a hero for not signing the confession for several reasons. For one, John was noble enough to stand his ground and plead innocence instead of pleasing the judges with a lie. I also thought he was a hero because he did not falsely accuse his friends of witchcraft, which was something that most of the people who were arrested because of Abigail and her friends’ lies, did. John was not always the holiest Christian according to the townsfolk because he rarely attended church and he was an adulterer; although, only a few people knew of his sexual affair. The fact that he set aside his un-Christian attitude to stand up against the Covetousness of the court proved that he was a very honorable and heroic man. “You made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor. Not enough to weave a banner with, but white enough to keep it from such dogs. …Give them no tear! Tears pleasure them! Show honor now, show a stony heart and sink them with it!”-John Proctor’s last words to his wife right before he was hanged. 

Arrivals...There Goes the Neighborhood

A few days ago I was reading an excerpt from the Columbus Journal. The Columbus Journal, a rather long and descriptive story of Christopher Columbus’s first journey to the Americas, focused mainly on how amazed Columbus and his men were at the environment, the food, the animals, and most importantly, the Natives who were just as astounded as Christopher and his men were. The purpose of Columbus’s voyage was because Spain wanted to expand their kingdom and their religion, so even through all of the amazement, beauty, and kindness from both the Natives and Columbus’s men, there was still this element of fear. Some Natives (not all) feared Columbus’s arrival because they believed he might enslave them, kill them or affiliate their small governments (assumed from the context of the Journal). There was also fear from the newcomers because they were at a disadvantage; they did not know much about the land nor did they know much about the Natives themselves. The arrival of Columbus and his men slightly changed the way of life for the Indians. For one, Columbus wanted to convert them from their own traditions and religion (if they had one) to those of the Spaniards. Also, Columbus, who was raised in a civilized land, believed that he should help theses Natives become more “civilized” by changing the way they dressed and made profit through the gifts he gave them. The point is Columbus and his men were newcomers to an already established land, like a new neighbor is to an already established block, community, neighborhood, etc. Columbus, rather he knew it or not, changed the Natives way of life and beliefs exactly how a new neighbor would change the perceptions of a person’s views of ethnic groups, customs, and religions. In modern day, this new perception could change the ideas of a neighborhood to be more susceptible to change. But this only about a fifty percent chance of happening in today’s society because people don’t really care much about new neighbors unless the new bothers the old or vice versa. If that’s the case then, there goes the neighborhood.