Modern Puritan

Puritans were a group of settlers in America who came to spread their religion. They didn't venture far from chosen principles and lived their lives to follow them all; as whole they were very rigid and stern being sure to follow strict moral codes. In their community, someone would be looked down upon for not praying daily or going to church on Sunday; reading a book other than the bible was unheard of, and by doing so one was accused of being a witch! Puritans set out to be a Utopian society but there seemed to always be some internal chaos.

Today many people would consider Puritans to pretty much be null and void. However the people that resemble Puritans the most today are, in my opinion, extremist Muslims. Extremist are people who believe in something, whether politically or religiously, and will go to extreme heights “protect” it; some even going as far as hurting others to convey their message.

Now don’t get me wrong, not all Muslims are extremists. In fact, a vast majority of them are not and the ones who are have put a bad label on the Muslim religion. These groups of Muslim fundamentalists, like the Puritans, follow their code of behavior or religious writings down to every word, and a lot times resent any views that oppose their own.  An example of this would be 911. The US has project this westernized version of living and, from a different point of view, have forced it on other cultures. Cultures that really don’t believe in it and don’t want it displayed to their people as something cool to do, especially if it counters their religious principles. This “pushiness” of the US enraged the extremist igniting a feud which caused them to strike back with terrorist attacks that killed many!

Extremist groups today are similar to Puritans. Both groups strongly believe in their ideologies and almost never see any other another way thinking. They set out to be perfect, and try to follow their codes without question or hesitation; those who don’t follow them are looked down upon and both groups do something about it, whether it is public humiliation or violence. Modern day Puritans = Extremists Groups.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

Hmmmm..... How would I describe John Proctor? Outspoken, logical, smart, and rebellious all come to mind. A hero is someone with "distinguished courage and ability, and is admired for brave deeds" and a stooge is someone who is taken advantage of or a butt of a joke. I don't think I would fully associate John with either of those things. A stooge doesn't venture to do such noble things, and isn't someone who goes out of their way to save others by fighting against bad guys. On the other hand, a hero saves the day, sometimes at the last minute but it happens!  Not only does John die but the bad guys get away Scott-free; leaving his friends to a dreadful, dark end.

The stooge in Proctor gets him killed at the end. When the story ended I was unsatisfied, John had so much potential and it felt like he just stopped trying. I was expecting John to fight HARD down to the very last millisecond, to maintain his innocence, and reveal the truth! Sadly he failed; very heroic efforts, but falling short is just the story of John's life in this play. John was the butt of a bad joke and it is really unfortunate. John had a chance to live and work from the inside to somehow bring the system down but in the end he just tarnished his name and made himself look crazy before his death.

The hero in Proctor pushed him to fight for what he thought was right even when he knew the tables could easily be turned on him, which they were. He took on these deeds with almost no one on his side. What I like about John and what makes him sort of a hero is his want to do good and to make up for what he has done in the past. So much so, that in the end he chooses to die, to not lie to please sick, vengeful people but to look good in the eyes of God, Elizabeth, and the others, which is very admirable. He gave up himself for a higher cause, and chooses to be a hero by going the right way instead of becoming just like the bad guys in the play.

John Proctor wasn’t necessarily a stooge or hero but if I were to describe him in two words I would say that John is a: TRAGIC HERO. John "preferred death to prudence".

Despriction: Waking Up

I was awakened by a tap on the shoulder around 5:30 a.m., only to receive a “Come on! Trenati you've got to get up… NOW!” said my mother. My body felt numb, and as I moved to get out of the bed the want to sleep more hit me like a stack of bricks. An overwhelming pressure was over me making it impossible to get up. I thought to myself maybe just one more minute of sleep, so I closed my eyes and scratched the nasty flaky, white crust out my eyes. BANG! My door flew open at high speed knocking down some papers. The lights of the room popped on burning my eyes and making my sight cloudy momentarily. “I said get up now! You’re making us late.” yelled my mom as she walked out the door. In complete agony, I tossed making some progress but there was far more to go. My limbs felt like spaghetti, the kind that always falls from the fork when you try to eat it and just like the spaghetti I would continuously get pulled back by sleep. But then out of the blue the most amazing aroma danced around me. It was so enticing and powerful it knocked my sleep right out of focus. It came closer and closer. The aroma entered my nose and threw me in a trance. The smell swirled around in my mind igniting a flame that created a wildfire which pulled me out of bed. It smacked me into consciousness, and lured me to follow it. I arrived to juicy, sizzling sausages, eggs, and the most perfect pancakes siting on the dining room table. I was definitely awake now…

Arrivals...There goes the neighborhood!

Picture this: You move into your dream house. It is in the perfect neighborhood. Your neighbors are great, and your kids love it there. You live there for years and then one day new people move in. These people are rude, loud, destructive, and tear apart the neighborhood with their illegal behavior. Not only are they horrible neighbors but they sell drugs and they do it on YOUR LAWN! They have guns, and are very scary people, so scary that you don't say anything. When you finally do say something it is to no avail; the neighborhood is ruined and your dream shattered. So reluctantly you leave. That sucks!

Similarly, the Indians or Native Americans were run off their land losing their homes. They lost the place where they ate, slept, worked, and carried out their spiritual practices. Their way of life was erased by the new comers that were greedy and felt superior. They ruined hundreds of people lives, ripping apart the natives homes, beliefs, culture, and livelihood. The Europeans took advantage of the natives using them; sucking them and their land dry and then forced the natives to move.

 I feel really bad for the natives who seemed to have good intent and seemed like good, loving people. They helped the Europeans and taught them how to survive on the land. It is really disgusting when I think about the disregard for others. The Europeans only worried about themselves and how things benefited them. I did some research and found this: "Europeans invaded, gave Native Americans incurable diseases, took their property and livestock, in many cases killed their women and children, took their hunting and fishing grounds, burned their houses and villages, forced them on Death Marches 1000 miles long, many at gunpoint, purposely gave them blankets full of small pox in freezing weather, starved them, humiliated them, raped, pillaged, and plundered them, broke all of their treaties, and committed many other countless crimes". It is really hard to believe that human beings can do that to one another but as history shows, it happens all the time! And so I guess it is safe to say when the Europeans arrived, there went the neighborhood for the Native Americans.