When the trials began, many accused others of witchcraft and this lead to them accusing even more. The new news of the entire witchcraft epidemic in Salem left many disturbed and trying to eliminate the bad of the town. The novel allows the reader to reflect on the life of the Salem people and understand the happenings. One example is the reflection of the lives of teenage girls in the puritan society, sent by God to marry and have a family, lacking the happiness of teen hood. Thus, explaining a
The causes for both the Salem Witch trials and McCarthyism were both based on the fanaticism of just a single person. The initial reason as to what sparked the Salem Witch trials was that, reverend Parris had noticed that he was losing more people in his church and that the attendance was decreasing by the moment! (Douglas Linder) Consequently, he made himself as well as others believe that his church was the church through which god spreads his blessing, and now, god's community is cursed by witches. Given that it was a puritan’s community back then, the people seemed to have believed so easily and gave into thinking that witches were behind this. Henceforth, Mr. Parris made it exceptionally clear that if you are against the church, then you are truly well amongst the dead.
The family has no real connection or love up until they come across the Misfit and his gang of murderers. When the Grandmother says at the end, "You're one of my children," she makes the first connection in the story (O’Connery 152). In O’Connor’s stories all are sinners, but she believes that they can all be saved even the worst of them. Most stories by O’Connor have religion and in “a good man is hard to find” she utilizes someone’s “last words” to show that even in the end religion is still there. In the story “a good man is hard to find” the author uses the theme as well as the setting to show some aspects of religion in her
The injustice of the Salem Witch Trials remains in American history forever. The terrible incidents of the trials played out because of personal insecurites, jealousies and teenage boredom. As the event took course and grew to an epedemic, the Town of Salem was uprooted and taken by storm. Through harassment, men and women of Salem were in driven into the witchcraft craze of 1692. The absence of a fair and honest trial for the prosecuted in the small Protestant town is thought to be approached in a different manner today.
These times also had many differences. People in the Salem Witch Trials were in the 1600's-a very naive time- while people during the time of McCarthyism lived in the 1950's. Citizens of America in the 1600's were scared of one thing, the devil. The churches wanted to rid their town of anyone who associated with him by being hanged. In the 1950's, however, people were terrified of the red Communists coming to take over their beloved country.
Previously, with the Roman Catholic Church if people lived lives that were relatively free of sins then they were guareenteed their place in heaven which was promised to be an eternal life full of bliss and happiness. Upon the reformation of the newly established Protestant church they excluded the items they believed were unnecessary when worshipping God. Which meant people felt more vulnerable as they no longer had the protection the Roman Catholics offered. This then lead to the increased prosecution of witches due them being fearful, huge numbers of women were burned at the stake upon carrying the charge of being a witch. Astrology also increased anxiety as it provided solid predictions of what was to happen in the future and it was believed nothing could be done to change
Some say the horror of the witch trials was so profound that its supernatural echoes can still be heard on Salem's streets. The first seeds of trouble arrived with the Puritans in 1630. It was a family dispute in Rev. Samuel Parris' household in 1692 that sparked the hunt. Parris' slave, Tituba, taught his daughters and other women in the community 'witchy' little games that were just intended to be fun and entertaining.
Throughout Miller’s novel The Crucible, religion is heavily criticized and the institution of it in Salem. Criticism is displayed when Abigail reveals her hatred for Salem and the key values the town lived by: “I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men” (I. 22). Abigail criticized the way religion was taught and the context of religion in Salem. Miller argues that Salem’s teachings to the people amongst one another was wrong doing with the fact that few people such as Abigail saw them as too drastic or immorally wrong.
Hawthorne’s background and his stories include the puritanism. In “Young Goodman Brown” it demonstrates about the devil, supernatural power, witches and family. Brown sees the most respected members of his religious community are suspected as devils and has supernatural powers, including his own wife Faith. When he returns village next day, he cannot bear to look at those villagers the same way. Brown fails to recognize the humanity as happens in witch trials were judges fails to find the meaning of humanity.
Here lies Tolerance (July 4, 1776-September 11, 2001)… Ever since the attacks on our nation, America has been on a downward spiral of predictable fear and hate. The problem with America today is the fact that, although we were a nation built upon religious tolerance, its people do not express this acceptance simply through ignorance; and people fear what they don’t understand. If we are to stop this decent into madness, we must stop and learn about each other. America is not unlike an average teenager in present society. Although parents would like to shelter their children from the evils of the world (which is unlikely to happen), terrible experiences often manage to find their way through the cracks and into the hearts and minds of our