The Modern Puritan

This week’s blog topic allows us to connect what we have been learning in class all throughout the beginning of this year to modern times and society today. Historically, the puritans were known for being extremely stringent. Children always had to obey adults, and everyone had to obey the bible. The puritans were extremely religious peoples and could be harsh at times if someone failed to follow the religious or political laws.  A common example of this is in The Scarlet Letter, which we are currently reading. Hester committed adultery, a violation of one of the ten commandments, and had to pay for it her entire life. In terms of connecting The Scarlet letter and the puritan ways to today, I guess you could say most religious groups are still “strict” but usually not to the severity of the puritans. For example, catholics are still required to follow the ten commandments and what not, although if the commandments aren’t always respected there is no punishment. Modern civilization has progressed from being so authoritarian and today most people are liberal to some extent. Using the same adultery example in the Scarlet Letter, if someone today were to commit adultery, it would still be seen as immoral and inappropriate, but that person wouldn’t be scrutinized or humiliated. 

John Proctor- Hero or Stooge?

A hero is defined as “ The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.”.  A stooge is defined as “ a person who serves merely to support or assist others, particularly in doing unpleasant work”. In my eyes, John Proctor is both a hero and a stooge. He showed heroic qualities in his final hours of life as he never ever lied in saying that he was a witch. Although his life could’ve been saved if he had untruthfully “confessed” practicing witch craft, he refused to oblige and died a martyr of some sort. John Proctor didn’t always portray the qualities of a hero, he was unfaithful to his wife, but in the end he sacrificed his life for others, and their lives were potentially saved. John didn’t greedily save his own life and lie about others. He didn’t send innocent people to their death beds, and instead he attempted to end the horrific sequence of arresting, lying, and killing in Salem. In similar ways, John Proctor is a “stooge” as well. Although John to solely survive to “assist” others, he died in order to save others. His death was unnecessary and did not need to happen, but it did happen.

Arrivals, There Goes the Neighborhood

When I heard the title for this blog entry, I obviously thought about the situation between the Native Americans and the Europeans. I thought about how the Europeans thought it was ok to invade the Natives' property in an effort to do things like convert them to their religion and take over them in order to make money. Some of the Europeans sought to help the Natives and simply explore, not to destroy them and their land for their own egotistical reasons. In realizing that, I understood that some Europeans were there to help and some were there for other reasons. After understanding and realizing those things, two questions arose in my mind. At what point is it not ok to "invade" someone's space? At what point does it become too territorial and acquisitive to not allow others to join your community, or to disrespect them? It becomes wrong to invade someone's space, property, or "neighborhood" when the action of going there is brought on by something bad or harmful. Europeans like Christopher Columbus took over the Native People and treated them as if they weren't human beings. And on the contrary, it becomes too territorial to not accept someone when they have the intention of bringing something good, and not bringing upon harmful things. Those two questions can still be asked today and will be relevant in the future as well. The subject of invasion and being territorial has been proved timeless, I guess you could say it's a part of human nature.