The Crucible, The Great Gatsby, And The Things They Carried

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Recommended: Conformity and obedience introduction

American literature reflects society by displaying the positive and negative sides to our country’s history. Throughout the year we have been shown all sides of the story, not just one side. We understand the situation more if we take into account the other stories that nobody ever hears about. American Literature deals with the topics of identity/memory, conformity and rebellion, society and struggle, and war. By taking a look at the 9/11 pictures as well as the memorial statue, The Crucible,The Harlem Renaissance, The Great Gatsby, and The Things They Carried, it is easy to see that all aspects of American Literature directly reflect society in many ways. To begin, at the very beginning of the year we were taught about Identity/ Memory and …show more content…

The book that we read during our study of this topic was “The Crucible”. This book took place during the red scared and the salem witch trials. The author focuses on the idea of a theocratic society in which the church and the state are not separate. Innocent people that were accused of a certain crime were automatically punished without being able to defend themselves. In the story, the girls work together to accuse many innocent people and have them punished for their own selfish reasons. They knew in their hearts that they were not guilty of anything, but they still proceeded to accuse them. This book shows how government can abuse its power and lock people away for being entirely innocent. “The Crucible” can relate to our society today. The girls in the book almost gang up on the rest of the civilians to gain a sort of power. This shows us the history of our country because the salem witch trials were a real thing and it educates readers with this …show more content…

This book was about the struggles and hardships that the soldiers went through in the Vietnam War. The general vision of soldiers are seen as brave and heroic. In all actuality, soldiers go through so much more than just fighting for our country. They fight mental illnesses and physical illnesses as well. They deal with things like PTSD and many other mental disorders. Us Americans don’t give them enough credit. While we’re thinking they’re heroic and brave for fighting for us. They feel like they would rather die than be out in battle. This story shows us the other side of war, the side that most people have no idea

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