Essay The Tragic Hero in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

The Crucibles Tragic Hero A tragic event should bring fear and pity to the reader and the hero should be courageous and noble, hence when combined a tragic hero is presented. The protagonist, John Proctor, portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible. His hamartia of treachery caused great internal struggles, he displays hubris by challenging authority, and encountered catastrophe as the play went on. John Proctor’s decision to betray his wife caused internal turmoil and ultimately lead to his ruin at the end of the play. Proctor’s tragic flaw was that in which he committed treachery, which provoked part of his misfortune. Proctor’s serious mistake of adultery delivered problems with Abigail and caused an accusation of his wife†¦show more content†¦The court jailed Proctor; Elizabeth Proctor’s selfless act backfired. Proctor committing adultery with Abigail directly caused his jailing and indirectly caused his wife’s allegation as a witch; for Proctor starting the spark to Abigail’s intense lascivious emotions toward him resulted in his death. The court viewed his real truth as a lie and believed he defied authority. Although, John Proctor did not truly defy authority in that scene of the play, for he told the truth and his wife lied, he challenged control in many other aspects. John Proctor exposed pride through his hate of Reverend Parris. John Proctor proclaimed that he did not go to Church, an act the court and townspeople viewed as a revolt on the supremacy of God, because the Reverend Parris was corrupt. Parris was materialistic and cared more about the sake of his reputation than the health of his own daughter. Proctor resented the Church because Parris ran it. In the eyes of officials, this casual negligence of God turned Proctor into an unchristian, sinful rebel. Though Proctor’s reasons for disregarding the Church were quite reasonable, people did not accept them in the particular time period. Near the end of The Crucible, Proctor believed that he had lost the battle of witchcraft. He felt there was no longer any hope that the court would free him from execution, and he panicked. A person can be strong forShow MoreRelatedThe Tragic Hero of The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay1396 Words   |  6 PagesThe Tragic Hero of The Crucible    A tragedy should bring fear and pity to the reader. A man in this tragedy should not be exceptionally righteous, but his faults should come about because of a certain irreversible error on his part. This man should find a bad or fatal ending to add to the tragedy of the story, for this man in the tragic hero. The protagonist John Proctor portrays a tragic hero in The Crucible; his hamartia of adultery causes great internal struggles, he displays hubris byRead More John Proctor is a Tragic Hero in The Crucible by Arthur Miller688 Words   |  3 Pagestimes of the ancient Greeks, tragic heroes have been used to enhance the meaning of a play or literary work. Any character cannot be described as tragic hero. Several key characteristics are necessary for the tragic hero to possess in order to be characterized as such. He must be high-ranked or have a high standing in the community. He must have a weakness or a tragic flaw and be involved in a struggle. In the end, that struggle will lea d to his downfall. Arthur Miller purposely incorporates theseRead MoreThe Tragic Hero, John Practor, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller686 Words   |  3 Pages John Proctor The Crucible by Arthur Miller is set in Salem in a Puritan community. John Proctor had everything the average puritan could ever want: a farm to ceaselessly toil upon, three sons to discipline, and a wife to spend his life with. Proctor was a guy that wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and throughout Salem he was respected and honored for it. But John wasn’t the perfect man either he had betrayed his wife and committed adultery. John Proctor is the tragic hero because he is loving,Read MoreAnalysis Of Arthur Miller s The Crucible 1457 Words   |  6 PagesSteven Huang Ms. Folkrod English 3, Period 7 26 October 2014 Proctor’s Pride and Downfall A tragic hero is a hero in a story whose natural flaws or wrong judgments, associates with bad fate, causes his downfall or death. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, there are tragic heroes. In the late 1600s, there are a series of witch trials happens at Salem, MA. John Proctor, a farmer who lives in a farm with his wife Elizabeth Proctor, is the protagonist during the Salem witch trial. John is a candid, frankRead MoreThe True Tragic Hero: The Crucible’s John Proctor Essay1044 Words   |  5 PagesThe true tragic hero: The Crucible’s John Proctor A tragic hero is a noble man who commits a fatal flaw. The hero’s downfall is a result of their choices which leads to a punishment that exceeds the crime. â€Å"The difference between Proctor and Willy Loman is enormous; the former is the rather typical tragic hero who is defiant to the end, the latter is trapped in submission and is living a lie† (McGill 4). John Proctor is one of the main characters in The Crucible. he is married to Elizabeth ProctorRead MoreJohn Proctor as a Tragic Hero in The Crucible850 Words   |  4 Pagesplay by Arthur Miller The Crucible, the town of Salem is in pandemonium under the non-existent threat of witchcraft. Every character is either lying to save their lives or to end others, or dying for not admitting to a lie. One character who stands out among the chaotic conflagration is the tragic hero John Proctor. In Greek drama, a tragic hero is defined as â€Å"a great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy that is destined for dow nfall, suffering, or defeat.† No character in The Crucible fits thisRead MoreJohn Proctor as Tragic Hero of Arthur Millers The Crucible Essay798 Words   |  4 PagesJohn Proctor as Tragic Hero of Arthur Millers The Crucible In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor fits the classic Greek definition of a tragic hero.   Aristotle, one of the great Greek philosophers, teachers and writers, stated that one of the most important aspects of a tragedy was the tragic hero.   He defined a tragic hero as a noble person that goes from a state of fortune and happiness to a state of utter misery.   The character’s tragic flaw causes this changeRead MoreArthur Miller Criticism913 Words   |  4 Pages Arthur Miller is a highly distinguished author. He is considered by many to be one of Americas greatest writers. As distinguished a writer he is, Miller deserves to be selected for a spot in the prestigious American Author Hall of Fame. His works meet the criteria for the American Authors Hall of Fame since they have themes important to society, are unique, and have universal appeal. Arthur Millers works meet the American Author Hall of Fames first criteria by dealing with themes highly importantRead MoreCompare And Contrast John Proctor In The Crucible773 Words   |  4 Pages The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is a play written to mirror the anti-communist hysteria and how Joseph McCarthy went on â€Å"witch hunts†, which was basically finding an innocent person who was accused of being a witch and punishing them. Throughout The Crucible you will see very similar actions that mirror the McCarthy era; like how Abigail gets mad John Proctor does not want to be with her and spreads a rumor that his wife is a witch. â€Å"A tragic hero is the main character in a tragedy,† directly describesRead MoreArthur Miller s The Crucible2214 Words   |  9 PagesJohn Proctor: A tragic hero A man s reputation in many forms is his, life’s work. To have your reputation dismantled is like taking away one s accomplishments and life’s work. Arthur Miller s The Crucible is a play about justice and injustice, and how our justice system can be easily corrupted. The story revolves around a man named John Proctor, the tragic hero of this story. John Protector is a symbolic character created by Arthur Miller, because he faced the justice system head on. Proctor’s

The American Dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott...

The American Dream is an ethos idealized by millions of people. It is an attitude and mindset that can promote success and prosperity throughout life. When it comes to the American dream, a significant part is the quest for money. As shown in classic American Literature such as The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the influence of money plays an important role throughout both novels. There are characters in both books that use money as a way of representing what their morals and values are. The decline of the American Dream is evident in both novels considering the negative effects money has on certain characters. The American Dream still lives today in society in which people†¦show more content†¦In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream is depicted in an adverse and undesired manner. When Nick Carraway moves to the West Egg district of Long Island he realizes the American Dream has been corrupted (Fitzgerald 10). Fitzgerald describes the 1920s as an era that is fraudulent and corrupt. We see that Gatsby is not someone that truly followed the American Dream to gain prosperity and wealth. Gatsby’s wealth was derived from bootlegging alcohol and other illegal products and this symbolized the 1920s as an era of newfound materialism and unprecedented success (Millett 1). Gatsby’s desire for wealth and power was influenced greatly by his old friend Dan Cody. While working and traveling with Cody on his yacht, Gatsby falls in love with luxury and wealth. Cody leaves Gatsby twenty-five thousand dollars when he dies, but could not claim it because of Cody’s mistress (Fitzg erald 107). After this event Gatsby was determined and focused in becoming a wealthy man down the road. Dan Cody made Gatsby the person he shaped and evolved into. Jay Gatsby utilizes his power and wealth in attempt to get what he always desired for. His love for Daisy was something he thought he could buy his way through by impressing her with extravagant and grandiose parties every week. The green light at the end of the dock symbolizes Gatsby’s love and desire for Daisy. Even though Daisy and Gatsby had a deep and strong connection their love could not last because ofShow MoreRelatedThe Great Gatsby And A Streetcar Named Desire Analysis1041 Words   |  5 PagesThe Past is in the Past From youth, individuals have been told what has happened in the past is behind them and they can move on with their lives. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the past is a key element. First of all, in both text forms Gatsby and Blanche go against their values to get back a part of their life that has been lost. Furthermore, both characters create an image of wealth to mask the tragedies of theirRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald2668 Words   |  11 PagesMost Americans work hard to be better than others, achieve perfection, and hide their imperfections. Americans will do anything to hide their imperfections. This idea is present in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby and in Tennessee William’s play, A Streetcar Named Desire. In The Great Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker and Jay Gatsby appear to be living the wealthy and perfect American lifestyle compared to Ni ck Carraway, a man who was born and raised in the midwest and is rentingRead MoreBrief Survey of American Literature3339 Words   |  14 PagesBrief Survey of American Literature 1. Beginnings to 1700 Great mixing of peoples from the whole Atlantic basin Bloody conflicts between Native Americans (or American Indians) and European explorers and settlers who had both religious and territorial aspirations - Native American oral literature / oral tradition - European explorers’ letters, diaries, reports, etc., such as Christopher Columbus’s letters about his voyage to the â€Å"New world†. - Anglo (New England) settlers’ books, sermons

Historical Allegory and Symbolism in Animal Farm Free Essays

string(58) " not possess enough military power to defeat the revolts\." Haley Pruitt Mrs. Blount AP Literature and Composition 12 November 2012 Symbolism and Allegory in Animal Farm When George Orwell wrote his literary masterpiece that has been acclaimed for many years by critics everywhere, Animal Farm, there were many world events shaping the future of all of Europe and the world that impacted his views, which therefore influenced his writing and opinions. His background and values help to shape the glasses through which he views these events. We will write a custom essay sample on Historical Allegory and Symbolism in Animal Farm or any similar topic only for you Order Now George Orwell is put into positions of warfare and diplomacy and handles both eloquently as he allows them to mold him into the person that writes the masterpieces that he goes on to produce. Animals are implemented to retell the story of Marxism, the Russian Revolution, and the downfall of utopian views and societies. George Orwell uses symbolism and allegory in his novel Animal Farm to show the social issues of the Soviet Union in the time period of 1917 through 1943. The background of George Orwell must be understood before one can go deeper into his literary works. George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair who was born on June 25, 1903 in Motihari, Bihar, India. He was born into an upper middle class family and went to Catholic school. He moved to Burma where his grandmother lived, and this is where he later wrote Burmese Days, â€Å"A Hanging†, and â€Å"Shooting an Elephant†. â€Å"In Burmese Days, he resigned to ‘escape not merely from imperialism but from every form of man’s dominion over man’† (â€Å"Orwell† 748). When George Orwell moved to London, he began to explore the slums and the poorer parts of the city so that he could learn to understand them and the context of the many books that were written about them. Orwell became interested in the Spanish Civil War and decided to take part in it; because of this, he was asked to be a part of the Spanish Embassy in Paris and he wanted to eliminate fascism throughout the world. George Orwell was married to and adopted a son with Eileen O’Shaughnessy. She died in 1945 during a surgical procedure. Right before he died, he married Sonia Brownell in 1949. Orwell died at 46 years old from tuberculosis. He was in and out of many hospitals for the last three years that he was alive. The author was buried according to Anglican Rite in the All Saints’ Churchyard. At the outbreak of World War II, George Orwell was deemed unfit for service so he began to write for newspapers. Orwell wrote a column of the Tribune and he was a major contributor/writer of The Observer. â€Å"By this stage, Orwell saw himself primarily as a political writer, a democratic socialist who hated party labels, hated totalitarianism, and was to become more and more disillusioned with the methods of Communism† (â€Å"Orwell† 748). Orwell wanted to expose Communism and eliminate it from Europe. Through his writing for various newspapers, he saw himself as making a difference, but not quite as much as he would have liked so he began a novel to show the ugly truth of Communism once and for all. Before the end of 1944, Animal Farm was ready for publication, but a publisher could not be found as it was considered an attack on the Soviets. No one wanted to accept that kind of responsibility and punishment if something where to reach the Soviet Union regarding his use of allegory and symbolism using animals against them and their ideas. Eventually Jonathon Cape agreed to tackle the controversies that Orwell discussed and he published it. Jonathon Cape founded Jonathon Cape Ltd. with Wren Howard in 1921. It was one of the leading literary publishers in London during the time period. Jonathon Cape also published works such as T. E. Lawrence’s The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons, and the first of the James Bond books. Another historical issue that must be dealt with before a further understanding of Animal Farm can be reached is what exactly happened in the Soviet Union with the Russian Revolution and Marxism. Two German philosophers, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles, coined Marxism. â€Å"The  Communist Manifesto  (1848) of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels provided a theoretical basis for the revolutionary movements springing up in Europe in the latter part of the nineteenth century,† (Meyers). Marxism is a way to look at socioeconomics that is based on a more materialistic view of the development of history, a view of social change that has a lot to do with location, and an examination of the relationships of social classes within society and the way that capitalism is wrong and should be looked down upon. It fights for the self-discovery and freeing of the working class and making everyone equal to a certain degree. The Bolsheviks adopted these ideals of Marxism when they took over Russia in the Russian Revolution. World War I did not make things any easier on the peasants. Now they were forced to fight for a country they did not like in the first place and they were being simply slaughtered because they were not trained soldiers. Originally, it served to quiet the peasants because everyone was united against one enemy, but it wore off once the initial benefits were gone. Russia’s first major battle of World War I ended in over thirty thousand Russian troops were killed or wounded and the revolutions began. Tsar Nicholas began to make poor military choices and the Russians, particularly the lower class people as they had to fight and send their family and friends off to fight, began to think that there could be something better out there if they could find the right type of government to suit them. The February Revolt was the first of these revolts in the city of Petrograd. The tsar abdicated the throne because he was frightened and knew that he did not possess enough military power to defeat the revolts. You read "Historical Allegory and Symbolism in Animal Farm" in category "Essay examples" After this, there was a period of dual power where there was a provisional government that was loyal to the Soviet Socialists. The Bolsheviks were a group in Russia that began to revolt when the provisional government chose to continue to fight in Germany. Vladimir Lenin and the workers’ Soviets led the Bolsheviks. They quickly removed Russia from World War I with the Treat of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918. This resulted in a civil war between the Bolshevik (red) and anti-Bolshevik (white) factions of the government, lasting for several years, with the Bolsheviks eventually pulling out a victory. The way that this happened, it allowed for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to rule later. The way that the Bolsheviks ruled the Soviet Union can be compared to the way that the Catholic Church was run (Frye 11). These are comparable because both were totalitarian and rigid with little thought into the people that followed them. People followed long sets of rules and did not really know why and there was no reward for them except to keep their lives/not be excommunicated from the church. The Russian Revolution describes the mini revolutions that happened in Russia in 1917 that rose up against the monarchy of Russia of which tsar Nicholas was the head. The causes of the Russian Revolution pertaining to society came from the oppression felt by the lower classes in the autocracy of the tsar. They had been emancipated, but life was no better for them. The industrialization of Russia led to overcrowding and very bad conditions in the cities for the urban industrial workers. This made the peasants more likely to go on protest and go on strike than in previous years. Some critics view the literary work of George Orwell to be creating a utopian society and to praise that idea of the â€Å"perfect society†. â€Å"Orwell particularly valued the vigorous, colorful and concrete style of pamphlets and wanted to revive the genre,† says Valerie Meyers of Orwell’s Animal Farm (Meyers). This is not well thought-out because he was making fun of the way that people thought of utopias and he made the utopian society of the farm animals in Animal Farm fail miserably. If he had been praising the utopian societies and genre, then he would have written things differently and not had the society end in failure and death which is ultimately where he believed it would end. â€Å"Orwell’s  Animal Farm, like Swift’s Lilliput and Blefuscu, is a coded satiric portrait of a real society, an anti-utopia which, by castigating real evils, suggests what society ought to be like† (Meyers). George Orwell uses satire and allegory to show an intended utopia failing and Meyers puts it well when she says that he â€Å"castigates real evils† because Orwell legitimately shows the evils of what was happening in Russia and tries to simplify them into something of a â€Å"fairytale† that the normal person could digest and understand. . It is written as a fable though with the moral being to â€Å"teach a political lesson† (Meyers). He is trying to show the common person the effects on the people and the seriousness of the controversies that he chose to write about. The ultimate goal of writing Animal Farm was to destroy the Soviet myth (Patai). Orwell wanted the myth that everything was going great in the Soviet Union to be dismissed because people were not taking things seriously. The rest of the world did not think anything of the terrorism that was taking place because they simply did not even know that it was happening. Concerning Russian Communism, George Orwell did not take into account the â€Å"underlying reasons for its transformation from a proletarian dictatorship into a kind of parody of the Catholic Church,† (Frye 11). Orwell simply went through the process of what happened and didn’t ask the questions like â€Å"Why did Old Major feel the way he did? † or â€Å"Why did the animals blindly believe the pigs and not question them? † The characters that are used in the literary work of Animal Farm are animals. Some critics say this is because it is written in a fable-style and some, like Daphne Patai say that this is because, â€Å"It was apparently easier for Orwell to identify with the animal kingdom, exploited at the hands of ‘humans,’ than to note that buried in class and race divisions in the human orld lay the issue of gender oppression,† (Patai). Orwell could more easily wrap his mind around the cruelty shown to animals because then he wouldn’t have to relate it back to himself and his responsibility and role in the cruelty of human treatment to other humans. Also, it allowed him to disregard race and gender in the characterization of the animals that lived on Manor Farm. When he wrote about the pigs taking over and all the other animals numbly following them he tried to show that â€Å"the class struggle among humans is ‘pure illusion’—which is itself an illusion,† (Patai). George Orwell was trying to show that we don’t have to blindly follow authority and that it is not in our best interest, but in the same respect, he proved that it can be dangerous if you do not, therefore contradicting himself. â€Å"Orwell’s concern is that no matter what viewpoint rulers adopt it is no guarantee that they can solve the ‘central problem’ of revolution—indeed, of life—namely, the abuse of power† (Slater 241). George Orwell believed that whether it was Communism, Fascism, or Marxism, the leaders failed to do what they took over to do in the first place. His philosophy was that it doesn’t matter the type of government, government cannot fix the problem of revolution no matter the strength. The characters that exemplify the symbolism and allegory make up the main plot of the masterpiece that is Animal Farm. The pigs represent the upper class Bolsheviks that took power, Boxer is the common man, the dogs are the secret police, and so on. Also, the symbols used throughout the book such as the hoof and horn flag, the Order of the Green Banner, and the part song entitled â€Å"The Beasts of England† directly parallel symbols common in Russian society at the time. Even the battles have their own parallels of historical revolutions taking place in Russia (Meyers). Orwell wanted to blatantly make a point and leave no room for question as to what this was specifically allegorizing. â€Å"He says that he will not attempt to speak for the work: Either it speaks for itself or it is a failure† (Quinn). Orwell made everything so clear because he felt strongly about this issue of Marxism and the totalitarianism happening in Russia. If a critic had a question about what this was about, it would have defeated the purpose that it was meant to serve and so he wrote it in a way as to leave nothing to assumption. The character that most of the people struggling in this time feel that they can relate to is the character of Boxer, a workhorse. He buys into the lies that are fed to him by the pigs and believes all of the propaganda. Boxer truly believes that the pigs are doing what is best for him and even is found encouraging other animals to go along with their decisions. â€Å"I will work harder† and â€Å"Napoleon is always right† are the mantras that he developed to help himself keep going and accomplish the work he was assigned by the pigs. Eventually, the pigs decide that he cannot work any harder and Boxer is deemed useless; he is sent to the glue factory much to the chagrin of the other animals that looked up to and admired him for his work ethics and motivation. The fact that he was sold for alcohol and food for the pigs shows just how the system of totalitarianism works. It shows the way that people blindly follow orders, and even those who follow orders are not rewarded. As for the pigs, Napoleon represents Stalin and Snowball represents Trotsky; they supervise and keep the best of everything, including food such as apples and milk. Napoleon prefers a harsher take on everything: defensive buildup of armaments, increased food production/work, and finally, eliminating Snowball from the equation altogether. Snowball is mellower, wanting destabilization by propaganda, building of the windmill (reducing work hours), and an eloquent way to run things. Because they come to a head on all of these governmental matters, the more brutal animal, Napoleon, finally wins by driving Snowball off with the pack of dogs being used as secret police. Napoleon, like Stalin, turns Snowball, like Trotsky, into a criminal and an enemy of the animals; his victory and bravery at the Battle of the Cowshed is diminished piece by piece and his memory is degraded. The dogs are tricked into acting against their fellow â€Å"comrades† with offers of food and other treats. They mirror the KGB in that they do the bidding of those in power and even turn against their leader when they see a reward for themselves (Gardner 103-104). Orwell’s Animal Farm is taught in schools all over the country, though the immediate need for the piece of literature is now gone because there is no more Russian Communism. Many critics say that it was written as a fable or a fairy tale, and though Blair agrees, he also says: â€Å"Still, the narrative of Animal Farm is ingenious, and its twists retain a certain charm† (Blair). Though the author is in the opinion that Animal Farm is simply a children’s book, there is a simple agreement that it was written â€Å"ingeniously†. The teaching of this literary masterpiece will continue throughout the years because of its use of historical allegory and symbolism to teach the reader simply what happened in the world events of the time period that George Orwell lived in. How to cite Historical Allegory and Symbolism in Animal Farm, Essay examples