After carefully monitoring her grades throughout the semester and struggling to put full effort into each of her projects and all of her completed homework, an overachieving student destined for the Ivy Leagues finds herself facing a major obstacle. Although she had studied the night before, the multiple-choice test resting upon her desk that glared back at her now seemed to mock her, eating away any focus she could create. Racing thoughts of college, parents, teachers, counselors…too many thoughts cluttered her mind with each passing minute being pounded into her ear by the ticking of the clock against the wall behind her. She could not fail this test, she could not get a B, she could not upset her parents, and she could not give up her chance at a potential college. So many factors depended on whether or not she shaded a circle marked “A,” “B,” “C,” or “D.” Willing to sacrifice just a bit of integrity in order to save her future life plans, she glances to the tattered piece of paper in her pocket and mindlessly fills in the bubbles as if reading an instruction manual.
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
Carl Van Doren’s quote, “The race of men, while sheep in credulity, are wolves for conformity,” can be used to express ideas written in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. When a belief is stated, such as the belief in witchcraft within the play, people tend to blindly agree without sufficient evidence. Without thinking it through, people accept the belief no matter how ridiculous. This will create a calm and passive environment within the “herd” of people until a difference arises. Pleasant sheep will then transform into violent, aggressive wolves that fight the difference into submission, striving to keep the form and unity.
In The Crucible, John Proctor was one who would not confess to witchcraft. As he tried to convince the mistaken court into believing the children could be lying about witchcraft, he was attacked until he would agree with the crowd. The court would only believe that the children accusing him of witchcraft were correct and did not take time to logically think it through. Through this belief, they created a manner which would not accept difference. These wolves preyed upon their own flock, hoping to exterminate those who did not blindly follow.
“The Crucible” by Arthur Miller
As the camera fades out leaving the lone figure silhouetted in the solitary spotlight, the music swells to a dramatic climax leaving the audience breathless. Vivid imagery and compelling music that touches the soul thrusts the viewer into the heart of the story allowing them to see the pains, feel the joys, and truly understand the story. Books can have the same effect on a person but do so in a much different manner. When Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible was shifted from stage to screen he was given the opportunity to use film’s advantages to fully express his points on harmful, closed-minded thinking once more. One point that is more easily seen in the film is the constant self-saving motivation that many of the villagers have, driving them to continue their murderous lies.
When the entire town of Salem, Massachusetts becomes infested with the idea of witchcraft, innocent people are brought to their deaths by the accusations of their friends and neighbors. Motivated by fear of the unknown and the need for a scapegoat, many villagers blindly ended their neighbors’ lives while some used this new-found power to protect themselves. Changes to Arthur Miller’s play in the movie format clearly show these selfish acts, especially near the end of the film. After John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and many others are accused of witchcraft, suspicion continues to torment the minds of many. When the accused are excommunicated from the church in the film, Parris is shown to be using his power to get rid of those who oppose or frighten him. Because Parris had seen the girls’ childish act near the beginning of the story and was aware that witchcraft did not play a part he knowingly sentenced innocent people to hang and banned them from the Church, saving his valuable reputation. Following the excommunications Parris is then shown attending some of the hangings that were also not written in the original play. On film, viewers can see the nervous guilt that is buried within him along with his cowering stature and uneasy, scanning eyes. With such a strong visual, it is difficult to doubt that Parris knows what he is doing is morally wrong. Not only is Parris shown as having self-preserving motivations within the film, but Danforth and Abigail are as well. When Abigail comes running to Danforth claiming that one of the councilmen’s wives is a witch, Danforth calmly claims it couldn’t possibly be true although he had previously believed that anyone who was accused must have been a witch. He tells her that her evidence is untrue and that she cannot be believed, yet does not doubt her evidence or liability from before. This new scene shows that Danforth begins to doubt the entire witchcraft trials, yet decides not to speak up in order to preserve his reputation and career. After accusing so many people, another new scene shows Abigail pleading to Proctor, trying to convince him to run away with her. Through her conversation she explains that she knows she has done wrong and has been lying to save herself from punishment and is going to ultimately save herself by fleeing from town. Although Proctor declines her offer, this scene gives the audience a closer look at the true Abigail.
While the play and the film for Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, both give the same message and tell the same story, some may argue that the film shows the images much more clearly. With the addition of new scenes in the film version, Miller tried another approach to portray the inner workings of his characters. With images and atmosphere that couldn’t be seen and felt through the play, Miller takes advantage of the film and more clearly reveals the selfish murderers within his tangled plot.
When imagining the Great Depression of the 1930’s, rarely does a person suddenly feel a deep and pure sympathy for each individual person who suffered through the historical event or quickly visualize the scenes the migrants had struggled through and the pain they had felt. Most people are unable to suddenly feel sorrow for something they don’t know much about or for something that seems so vast. When John Steinbeck wrote his book, The Grapes of Wrath, he kept his main purpose always on his mind. He wanted to inform the public of this impacting tragedy and wished that his piece would move people so deeply that they would actually act upon what they had just read. To make people feel so emotional, he had a great writing technique in mind that broke down the unimaginable sorrow in the Great Depression and first showed the reader the Joads, a compassionate family, strong-willed and always looking out for one another. Once he had snatched his reader’s heart, he then spanned out and showed them that just about every migrant suffering from the Great Depression was like the Joad family allowing the reader an easier transition from a single family to the society in whole. John Steinbeck used intercalary chapters to give the effect that he wanted.
When The Grapes of Wrath was written with the sole purpose to enlighten, rather than to entertain, John Steinbeck found that there were many points to get across and that he needed to intensely explain each complex idea. To be able to tell the public of the situation, however, he would first need to catch and keep the reader’s attention and create a newfound sympathy within him for the migrants of the Great Depression. This would present a challenge for any of his readers who had not personally experienced the event themselves. Steinbeck created the Joad family, making sure that they were a lovable group that could grow on one’s heart and could easily be loved. Through an array of different characters within the family, Steinbeck was able to create plots and problems, display different sides of the Great Depression, show how different people reacted to the event, and insure that there was at least one character for everybody to favor. Showing the audience how the family cared so deeply about one another and adding characters like Ma Joad, the readers felt emotionally troubled when the family suffered. Ma would always put her family first and would even deprive herself if one were in need. Steinbeck clearly shows this when Mrs. Wainwright tries to get Ma to sleep and temporarily stop watching over her daughter, Rose-of-Sharon, who had just lost her baby. “‘Come on,’ Mrs. Wainwright said, ‘Jus’ lay down. You’ll be right beside her. Why, you’d wake up if she took a deep breath, even.’” (606) From this small setting that the reader is tucked into, he is able to clearly imagine and feel how the family feels as they progress through the story. He begins to struggle alongside the characters and grow to understand more clearly. It is then that Steinbeck feels that the reader is ready to be exposed to an even larger amount of problems and finds a clever way to make an easy transition. Through the use of intercalary chapters, this can be achieved.
Intercalary chapters provide documentary information for the reader and give social and historical background that he would otherwise not receive from the story itself. These chapters do not progress the story, however, but temporarily interrupt the small setting that the author has created to step back and take a larger look at the situation in a whole. As the reader leaves the somewhat familiar and comfortable microcosm and is exposed to the much larger macrocosm, he may then fully understand the situation that the author is trying to point out. Realizing that he had thought that the small setting was unbearable, he is then shown an even larger population, all dealing with similar problems, and then truly understands the impact of such a drastic event. The single Joad family traveling from place to place is suddenly transformed into “the moving, questing people” with “great highways streaming with moving people.” (385) The reader sees that a great sum of families, each similar to the Joads, are going through the same situations and then sees the entire population with new eyes. He can now feel the entire society’s pain and suffering and feel as if he personally knows every one of the migrating families. This technique tries to overwhelm the reader, making him feel sympathetic not only for the quaint and personal part of the situation that he has grown to know and love, but also the general and somewhat unfamiliar society all together. Showing him that he can love a small piece of the population that is just like the rest of unknown migrants, he is able to be more considerate and caring. From there, Steinbeck was hoping that with this new selflessness, the reader would feel the need to do something about the situation. Through this technique, he was hoping to bring great change and help for these migrants. Steinbeck used intercalary chapters with a story to accomplish what he had hoped, which can only be affective if used skillfully.
Steinbeck successfully used intercalary chapters to inform the reader of the historical and societal background, broaden the scope of the novel, expose others with experiences similar to the Joads, provide his own opinions of the situations, and imply possible solutions or outcomes to the problems. Introducing the reader to a strong-willed family, he allowed the Joads to grow on the reader’s heart, causing him to become emotionally attached. Throwing in intercalary chapters, usually between each “Joad Chapter” he then showed the reader that even more families, each like the Joads, were suffering the same problems and something needed to be done. With the reader already feeling the pain of the Joads, it was not difficult for him to then feel the pain of the entire society and understand the problems of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. With the help of intercalary chapters, Steinbeck was able to show someone how to love and care for those he hadn’t even known.