The Crucible (4 of 4)

Quote 1
“Elizabeth: Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. With a tender smile for the old man: They say he give them but two words. “More weight,” he says. And died.”
I like this quote because it shows how we think of others in comparison to ourselves. As human beings we tend to look at how others are either better or worse than us. With this, Proctor determines those who don’t speak are better than he, and from that he is willing to confess. While this is true, we see at the end of the book that he is in fact just as good as those around him.

Quote 2:
“... say what you will, but my name cannot—

Danforth, with suspicion: It is the same is it not? If I report it or you sign it?

Proctor—he knows it is insane: No, it is not the same! What others say and what I sign to is not the same!”
I really liked this chapter. It tells a lot about human nature as we see the character of John Proctor be twisted and bent almost until breaking. However, this is a really good point that he brings out. The importance of a name, and the importance of what you sign to. You can say something but if you sign your name, your words are set in stone so to speak. The difference is your identity. Seeing your name on a piece of paper takes what you have meant for others’ ears and reflects it back to you. Proctor cannot handle this in his decision and shudders that others should see it. He therefore later rips the paper and decides to hang, shattering the mirror and breaking the lie he had set in ink.

The Crucible (3 of 4)

Quote 1:
"Francis: We have proof of it, sir. They are all deceiving you.

Danforth is shocked, but studying Francis.

Hathorne: This is contempt, sir, contempt!

Danforth: Peace, Judge Hathorne. Do you know who I am, Mr. Nurse?

Francis: I surely do, sir, and I think you must be a wise judge to be what you are.

Danforth: And do you know that near to four hundred are in jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?

Francis: I—

Danforth: And seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?"

Here we see the weight that Danforth has upon his shoulders. If he accepts that he has been deceived, all that he has done had been done wrongly. It makes sense that he is then so resistant to the idea, but this weight makes him blind to that truth and we see him dismiss good evidence for pointless reasons because of this.



Quote 2:
"Giles, faltering: I cannot give you no name, sir, I cannot"

Here we see a grammar I am used to hearing. Double negatives. I love these! They are so much fun to use when it makes a positive but few catch this and it is interesting to see how they have become so apart of our culture that they are taken as a single negative.

The Crucible (2 of 4)

Quote 1:
"Mary Warren: ... I only hope you'll not be so sarcastical no more. Four judges and the King's deputy sat to dinner with us but an hour ago. I —I would have you speak civilly to me, from this out.

Proctor, in horror, muttered in disgust at her: Go to bad.

Mary Warren, with a stamp of her foot: I'll not be ordered to bed no more, Mr. Proctor! I am eighteen and a woman, however single!"

Here we see what power does to a person, even if it is very little. Here Mary Warren is simply respected as a fairly high person in court. When that is suddenly taken away from her in the Proctor house, she stands up with her new found pride and demands it... and gets it. Once a person has been given a freedom or a strength, they cannot bare to live without it. We can see this in ourselves as we get older. Imagine how you would act if you were told to do something you hadn't done since you were a child. I have confronted this in my own life in the past and I, as I am sure we all do, naturally retaliate and demand to be respected as an older person, even if the cause is small. It is very interesting to watch her act as we all so often do... and get away with it.




Quote 2:
"Hale: No, no, I have no—

Proctor: I nailed the roof upon the church, I hung the door—

Hale: Oh, did you! That's a good sign then."

Here we can see how piety in Salem is based off of works and not a true relationship with God or a maturity in spirit. This explains why things went so wrongly. As human beings we are going to fall and do bad, resulting in "evidence" for a case if one is brought upon a person. People can easily point out the human flaws within each person's life and condemn them to a hanging.

The Crucible (1 of 4)

Quote 1:

"Betty: I'll fly to mama. Let me fly! She raises her arms as though to fly, and streaks from the window, gets one leg out.

Abigail, pulling her from the window: ..."(p18)

It is parts of the story like this one that intrigue me most. It keeps the audience guessing as to how real all of this witchcraft stuff is in the story. As a magician I see that crave within an audience to witness magic, and this constant unknowing of whether or not the magic is real, or the girls are just delusional keeps and audience on the edge of their seat, not able to wait for what happens next. Just seeing or reading of someone stepping out of a second story window without falling appeals strongly to the audiences imagination and forces them to invest their hopes into this story while at the same thing investing it into the wrong side. The audience knows that if Betty truly can fly then the group of girls with surely be hung, but that human want for flight is something an audience member can't help but wish for. With this it adds a nice complexity in the emotions of the audience.

Quote 2:

"Hale, grasping Abigail: Abigail, it may be your cousin is dying. Did you call the Devil last night?

Abigail: I never called him! Tituba, Tituba"(40)

Okay, I know this is small, but the real ness of the characters is amazing in this story. They are strange, but they still feel real. Often in stories the characters don't follow simple human psychology nor think like a human would, but in this story we see time and time again that even though some characters are bewitched, each one has a backstory and acts as a human would off of that past experience. Each character is explained as to the essence of their past and the effect that past has put on that character. The character then acts off of that as they would. It is simple human nature to point to someone else and to hide the truth. Again from my magic experience, there are a few ways, if someone takes a quarter behind their back, then puts it into one hand, then places both of them right in front of you to tell which one it is. If you can't tell by other means, you can ask them to cross their arms and almost every time they will place the quarter underneath the other arm, trying to hide the truth. This is a simple example of human nature and we see things like this ring true with each character. On top of this each one has a good and bad side to them so you are constantly unsure of which one is the "good guy" if you will. It is nice to see a work that has taken such time with developing every character within the story.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (1.3)

In your own words, describe what Platt lays out as the motivation for taking the Gospel to the lost. Is that a proper motivation?

Platt lays out that those who haven't even heard of God are still condemned and by not taking the Gospel to those people, we are basically condemning them ourselves. Also, he points out that we are blessed and saved because God loves us and so that we can share the Gospel to others to fulfill his plan. This is a proper motivation because, like in the story of the rich man and poor man, by us, being spiritually rich, and only giving our scraps to the poor, we are not being good stewards of the spiritual gifts God has given us. We have been blessed so that we may bless others, and by not following God's command to do that, we are walking away from what God has for us.

Platt contrasts the “rewards” of this world with the rewards found in Christ himself. What comforts, ambitions, or treasures are you holding onto that might be keeping you from radically following and obeying Christ? 

Honestly, I believe that my mind is what is holding me back. I love to learn and could spend the rest of my days learning about the world god has created and to give that up is something that would be extremely difficult for me. Learning how the world works, how people work, how people's think/have thought, and how to do stuff/ how stuff works is something I am always playing with. Whether it be doing cardistry, practicing magic, snowboarding, working on a car or analyzing people, I love doing that and giving up that time would be difficult to say the least.

Of the five components of “The Radical Experiment,” which would be the hardest for you to live out? The easiest? Why? 

I think the most difficult will either be reading the whole Bible over one year or multiplying the community. the reason why reading the Bible will be tough is because I have a difficult time reading for long periods of time. Also, the Bible is very dense and packed full of amazing truth and so taking all of that in will be a challenge to do consistently. As for multiplying the church, I am not quick to talk to people I don't know. I want to be able to do that, but learning to will be a struggle. I think either praying for the world or sacrificing my money will be the easiest because I know how to pray and can do that fairly easily and since I am in High School, I do not have to worry about many expenses so I am free to give my money.

Platt talks about intellectual universalism and practical universalism. Briefly describe what those are. Do you fall into either category? Explain.

Intellectual universalism says that since they did not know better they will go to Heaven. Practical universalism says that because all have sinned, even if they never heard of God, they will still go to Hell. It also says that if we think in terms of intellectual universalism, then is would be better n\to not share the gospel which God clearly tells us to do. I believe that I would fall in the practical universalism category. When looking back over this, I seemed to have remembered a verse that says something like you will be judged by what you know. Then, when looking into it, I found myself at Romans 2 in which it says something very clear. In the twelfth verse, it says that "For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without [regard to] the law..." I did not know what this meant so I went onto Bible Hub and look at the Greek word used there. I found the word used was "apolountai" which is a form of the Greek word apollumi which means to destroy, or destroy utterly. Therefore, according to that Scripture, those who have not heard the Gospel will be destroyed utterly.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream(1.2)

Do you have a passion for extending God’s glory? What does that look like in your life? If not, what can/should you do about it? 

Yes I do. For me, it means learning to talk to people I don't know and getting used to putting myself out there. I am hoping that through magic this will happen as I begin to perform for people randomly, However, I ulimately want to be able to talk to people openly about their beliefs. Also, I am learning to trust God and see that when speaking to people, I am not representing myself, but God in me.

Describe in your own words how Platt outlines the mission of the church as “going, baptizing, and teaching.” How are you (or how could you be) living out this mission in your own life?

Basically, instead of shutting themselves in the church, Christians need to be reaching out to people, and baptizing those who accept the reach. Then, we are to teach people how to live by being examples ourselves. Again, we pass so many random people by on a daily basis and don't even say hello. I want to learn to strike up a conversation with anyone I come across.

As you enter/approach the time of your life when you will be making more of your own financial decisions, what do you think of Platt’s radical take on wealth (and giving it away)? Is this something that every Christian is actually called to? 

I think Platt has a lot of good things to say here. I agree, we should not live luxuriously, especially with so many people dying who could live off of our excess. I also think that opening your home to someone is one of the best things you can do because you then are investing into their life. Yes, every Christian should do this. If you have enough money to live in your home and have extra, you should not spend that on yourself.

On page 104 Platt says, "Our version of the American Dream ends up disinfecting Christians from the world more than discipling Christians in the world." Explain what you think he means by that.

Our version takes Christians and separates them from the world. Like he said, success begins to be measured by what we don't do, but God calls us to the world. We should instead go into the world and be a light to those in darkness.

Of Mice and Men(1.3)

Who is your favorite character in this book? Explain your selection in detail.

I think that Slim is my favorite. He seems to be the one who has been around a while and who is able to keep everyone settled. He seems the one with the most common sense, and takes care of good people such as George and Lennie. He also seems to have really developed himself to be something no matter where he goes which I respect.

If you could “vote” one of the characters off the ranch, who would it be, and why?

It would honestly have to be Curley. He is like the spoiled brat in the story. He thinks too highly of himself and lacks almost all common sense and capability to think. He does nothing other than live off of what his father has built. It is honestly one of my pet peeves when people take good people and hard work for granted because it is not what they want.

What will you remember the longest about this story? Did you find anything humorous in the story? Which part was the saddest? The most surprising? The most thought-provoking?

I think I will remember George killing Lennie the most. For me, it is the saddest, most surprising, and most though-provoking. While I cannot bring myself to say that those actions were alright, the situation he was in does bring up a lot of questions about life and about myself. It is also sad because George did love Lennie, and the only way he saw he could help him is by the actions we see in those last pages. It was a slightly expected ending, and I honestly like it because too often writers are not willing to end a story like that.