How does Miller force us to judge all the characters in Act 3 of All My Sons?

How does Miller force us to judge the characters in Act 3? In Act 3, Miller forces us to judge Joe as the truth has finally come out. The audience realise how low Joe can sink and how morally wrong he was to let Steve go to prison when he was responsible. We begin to see him as cowardly and small, unlike how he referred to himself previously in the play as a ‘beast’. This is made very apparent when Miller uses interrogatives from Joe’s character to Kate’s. He’s desperate for help from her and it shows that actually he isn’t the real man of the house as he has to turn to her for answers. ‘How does he know?’ and ‘She doesn’t know, does she?’ Furthermore, these adjacency pairs in the form of question and answer between Toe and Kate also assert her power and strength that we begun to see at the end of Act 1 in the stage directions ‘sits stiffly in a chair.’ She is Joe’s rock and without her he would have no-one to turn to, to answer his questions or to keep him going. However, we also see that she’s panicking. In Act 2, she says to Chris ‘We’re dumb Chris… You’ve got to protect us.’ And this shows the audience that she was slightly panicked but also calculated. She understood how precarious their situation was but thought that their son Chris would protect them. In Act 3, however, a lot of her responses to Joe’s questions aren’t

  • Word count: 555
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Crucible

"The Crucible" Choose a play in which the dramatist explores conflict between two opposing forces. Show how the dramatist makes you aware of the conflict and discuss the extent to which you find the resolution of the conflict satisfying. "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller is set during the times of the infamous Salem witch trials. The play shows how a small Christian community is overcome with fear and resentment when accusations of witchcraft arise. Soon a battle between two completely different forces, honesty and falsification up rises. The play opens with a group of girls being caught whilst sporting in the forest. Suspicious eyes turn towards the girls and they attempt to shift the blame. Abigail Williams is the eldest and the leader of the girls. After an affair with the protagonist John Proctor, Abigail tries to place an incantation on Proctor's wife Elizabeth. During Abigail's attempts to shift the blame she draws a significant amount of the innocent population of Salem into her games. Due to the accusations the ones caught in this shambles have no option but to give up their soul and name accomplices of the devil. However, Proctor fights against this to save his own soul and those close to him. From the off it is clear corruption has a hold on the Salem community and as the play progresses its grasp tightens. The people of Salem follow their given laws at first

  • Word count: 1871
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Crucible

'The Crucible ' By Arthur Miller In the complex and interesting play ' The Crucible' by American playwright Arthur Miller the ending is very successful in both tying up the plot and sorting out the characters problems. Most notably John Proctor's. The final scene reaches its climax when Proctor reluctantly confesses to compacting with the devil and to doing his work. Proctor verbally confesses but this is not enough for Danforth who wants more in the form of a written ad signed confession which he plans to pin on the church door for the good instruction of the village. When Proctor realises this must be done or he will hang in a moment of rage he tears up his confession and secures his destiny to hang that morning with all the other upstanding, honest, innocent, members of the community. This final scene is expertly written by Miller and conveys the emotions of especially Elizabeth and John Proctor perfectly as thy try to come to an agreement to save John's life. Of course all this talking and emotion is brought to an abrupt end with Proctor walking towards the gallows and to his death with his name and reputation in tact but his life in tatters. John Proctor appears on the surface to be big, strong and well respected in his community. He is the sort of man that teenagers like Abigail often like but who is envied by other men for the above properties. This is evident most

  • Word count: 1362
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The crucible

The crucible The trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, deteriorated the rational, and emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities, and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salem's social order led to the tragedy which saw twenty innocent people hung on the accusation of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, author of The Crucible, used hysteria to introduce personality flaws in vulnerable characters. A rigid social system, fear, and confusion were evident conditions that became prevalent before and during the witchtrials. These conditions only contributed to the tragedy in Salem.The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that did not allow for any variation in lifestyle. The strict society that was employed at this time had a detrimental effect on the Proctor family. John Proctor, a hard working farmer who had a bad season the year before and struggling this year was occasionally absent at Sunday service. This was due to the fact he needed to tend to his crops. Also, Proctor did not agree with the appointment of Mr. Parris as the newest minister, and therefore did not have his last child baptized. With the latest craze of witchery and swirling accusations, John Proctor was easily indicted of being a messenger for the devil by the testimony of his disillusioned servant Mary Warren, who in the past committed

  • Word count: 833
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Crucible

The Crucible The Crucible is largely concerned with the abuse and misuse of power in Salem. Discuss this with references to any three characters. In this essay I intend to explore the abuse and misuse of power in Salem with references to three characters. The three characters that I will refer to are Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam and Abigail Williams. Reverend Parris is the pastor of the church in Salem. He is the father of Betty and the uncle of Abigail Williams. He believes that he is being persecuted and that the townspeople do not respect his position as a man of God. Examples to support these claims are when Parris is asking about his wood, and arguing over his salary, he then goes to say "I am not used to this poverty;..Why am I being persecuted here?" Reverend Parris also believes there is a faction and a party in the church which makes him seem very paranoid about the people around him. The towns people also do not respect him as a man of God because Proctor says "to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation" about the services that are held in Salem where Parris preaches. Many of the other towns people say that they 'quail to bring their children' because of the content of what is said during services. Parris is a materialistic and selfish person. He secures his desires in the town by preaching fire and brimstone until the people give in. An

  • Word count: 1855
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Show how miller suggests a rising wave of hysteria though Hales interrogation methods, Tituba’s replies and the interventions of other characters.

Sam Clifft Show how miller suggests a rising wave of hysteria though Hales interrogation methods, Tituba's replies and the interventions of other characters. At the beginning we see Tituba "frightened at the coming process". From the proceeding scene with know hysteria is growing already, so Tituba tries to shift the blame "I do believe somebody else be witchin' these children". Reverend Hale asks Tituba "who" this is when Tituba answers that she doesn't know "but the devil got him numerous witches". Hale latches onto this as though it is a clue and exclaims "does he" this indicates growing tension because Tituba is now saying what Hale wants to hear, all this adding to the growing hysteria Hale begins his gentle questioning technique with Tituba he asks Tituba if she is a "good Christian woman" Tituba agrees she is Hale continues asking leading questions and trying to lead her to God. "And you love these little children?" "And you love God Tituba?" Tituba is harmonizing to these questions. As Titubais answering these questions "she is rocking on her knees, sobbing in terror". This indicates the intense moment for Tituba and reverend Hale. As Hale is gently leading Tituba into confessing with his concentrated interrogation methods in this intense and dramatic experience, he slyly slips in another question "when the devil comes to you does he ever come with another

  • Word count: 1269
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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To What Extent Does Death of a Salesman deal with modern issues such as materialism, consumerism, procrastination and alienation, in Act 1 of the play?

To What Extent Does 'Death of a Salesman' deal with modern issues such as materialism, consumerism, procrastination and alienation, in Act 1 of the play? 'Death of a Salesman' deals with many modern issues appropriate to the genre of tragedy. Materialism is an issue presented in the play as a flaw of the main character Willy Loman, who not only is far too materialistic, but places material importance on the wrong things. This is partly owing to the issue of consumerism, which has permeated his beliefs and actions. Willy Loman also procrastinates as a theme throughout the play, in various detrimental ways. The play presents Willy Loman as both the cause and casualty of alienation. All four issues are presented as societal products of the illusory American Dream and flawed American culture, and although none of them are the focus of the play, they pervade it significantly from beginning to end. Willy Loman could have attained happiness by following his dreams and doing something he was good at, like his father and brother did. Aside from being obvious that Willy is not happy or successful in his current occupation, it is expressed that Willy wishes he had gone with Ben to Alaska when he had the chance. For example, he says 'If I'd gone with him to Alaska that time, everything would've been totally different." Willy wanted to live the original concept of the 'American Dream',

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Reverend John Hale embodies the growing awareness of the illegality and immorality of the Salem witch trials.

The Reverend John Hale embodies the growing awareness of the illegality and immorality of the Salem witch trials. The crucible was a historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, which took place in the small Puritan village in the colony of Massachusetts in 1692. The whole play is about the abuse of power, characters were able to get revenge on neighbours whom they dislike simply by accusing them of witchcraft. The McCarthy trials, relates to the Salem witchcraft trials. During the 1950's Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This lead to many unfounded accusations that people were communists. Some people believed him because they were fearful of communism and he played on their fears. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts". If you opposed the Salem Witch trials you were accused of being a witch. If you opposed the McCarthy investigations you were accused of being a communist. However In the Crucible Reverend John Hale is considered to be, and considers himself, an expert on witchcraft. He is initially summoned to determine whether the devil is in Salem and enthusiastically participates in the court proceeding. As Hale enters the play, he walks in with a lot of books heavy books, "books of knowledge". He is shown to be a man who takes pride of his work and he came to Salem just to find a witch, he will not

  • Word count: 827
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials: A Witch Hunt Then and Now The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reveal the fears people have of the unknown. In Salem Massachusetts persecution prevailed from intolerance and lack of understanding, just as it does today in many towns across this great nation. While exploring the web sites of National Geographic, The University of Virginia, and PBS, I found information from the past that links to the present. "Witch Hunts", as they were called in 1692, still exist today. The term "Witch Hunt" is not used as forcefully. Today a Witch Hunt can be disguised as slander, rumors, defamation of character, abuse, or even Christian love. The premise is still the same. Fear of the unknown, differentiating ideas or ideals, even a person's status or their point of view. These fears can lead to the persecution and intolerance that we see in the Witch Hunts and Trials of 1692 and today. In using dictionary.com to comparing the word Witch Hunt with words such as slander, and defamation I found the definitions to be very close and convey the same ideas and results. Witch Hunt - an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like usually based on slight, doubtful or irrelevant evidence. n. An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing

  • Word count: 1288
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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