My topic will be on the ulterior motives of the puritans and how their acceptance without evidence lead to many deaths. I will attempt to answer: why is it that the restrict expression?
My ideas on this topic vary. I’m unsure as to how I’ll approach it. I’ll have to do research into the the foundation of Puritanism. I’ll show how the book alludes to the suppression. I’ll reference the characters in the book trying to suppress the expression. I’ll use the book and the text “Young goodman brown.” It’s difficult to come up with quotes for this. PG. 68 “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.” This shows the closeness associated with good and evil. I don’t understand this statement because how could God not know that the Devil would fall? If he is omniscient, he should have known. Apparently, this shows that what appears good may truly be evil.
By the Young Goodman brown text, it seems as though the puritans were trying to scare those who had not yet accepted their religion into believing. The story shows the duplicity of the characters, that we all have evil in us, despite the overwatch and guard of God. The imagery is powerful, and the author tries to show the true horror of what Puritans believe God does to the wicked. The motives of the puritans would have to be further investigated. I’d like to know the origin of their religion, the environment they began in, and the competition they had. Why is it that they needed to resist emotion to stay together and to be just under God? I think it’s because they were so extremist that the believe any shift to the left (towards a freer less strict society) would result in total civil disobedience.
Thesis: Societal mendacity, emotional repression, and credulity are the inherent aspects of Puritanism that lead many followers to their downfall.
Characters in the Crucible are unable to express their frustrations and wrongdoings with each other, which makes them very volatile.
PG 19. “These people had no ritual for the washing away of sins...breed[s] hypocrisy.”
PG 13. “He [Putnam] was a man with many grievances.”
PG 14. “His family had been smirched by the village, and he meant to right matters any way he could.”
Credulity causes the trials.
PG 15. “They were murdered, Mr. Parris! And mark this proof! Last night my Ruth were ever so close to their little spirits; I know it, sir.
Another example of gullibility is when Abigail is pretending with the other girls that Mary is a witch. The court believes her, and finds this as evidence.
Societal mendacity exacerbates the unchecked expression of emotion (girls dancing in the forest).
PG 15. “You were conjuring spirits last night.” Abigail: “No I sir, Tituba and Ruth.”
Another note: They seem not to understand character’s motives. Other than the lawyer and perhaps John Proctor, who says this is a “whore’s vengeance.” The lawyer says that people are making accusations because they want their neighbor’s land.
Conclusion
It can be seen that theocracies cannot govern effectively.
The foundation of one should be empirical evidence, and the other by necessity cannot be.
The transference of rules and methods from Puritanism was the ultimate tool that led to the trials. It was not the people, but their ways.
It can be seen that people were capable of escaping this fog, but it was too deep for others, and they continued on a rampage of accusations.