Compare The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

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Death is a major theme through both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. In the first text, mass hysteria rips through Salem after a group of girls danced in the woods and blame everything and anything on witchcraft. The girl who could be identified as the main trouble-maker is Abigail Williams. She kicked up all of the witch suspicions because she had an affair with John Proctor, the identifiable hero. The story climaxed with the death of characters that drew affection from the readers. In the second piece of literature, the main conflict happens to be that of Hester Prynne, who committed adultery and had a child. There was a lot of public ridicule in this instance and many underlying plots within it. Again, the climax of the story could be argued to be the death of a beloved character. These two particular titles do in fact share a lot of common ideas and themes, while at the same having very …show more content…

They both committed adultery, which then became the root of all of the issues within their respective stories. How this was known to be wrong was the commandment given by Jesus Christ in the Bible, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” This makes their sins completely equal to each other. The punishment inflicted upon them was different however. Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter A and bear her shame and John was executed. Hester suffers from the intense shame and ridicule as it is stated, “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” It is remarkable to know that both characters felt a physical weight of their guilt. And it’s rather profound when John confesses his sin. He said. “I have known her, sir. I have known her.” All the while he was trembling and weeping, showing how much he truly feels his sin. Whether or not it is true, is it society’s place to judge individuals based on rumor and or hearsay and carry out

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