Reflection on The Crucible.

     The Crucible was a very different kind of story. I think that the characters were a little over the top. For such a small community there was a lot of drama. Each character was developed quite well, however, they were not very relateable. The lives of the characters in this story all revolved around gossip. I do not think that most of the characters such as, Reverend Hale, were that interested in "saving" the people accused of witchcraft. I think that they all just loved the drama and gossip that came with the witchcraft trials and accusations.

Political climate of the 1950s

http://www.gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/huac.cfm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/273188/House-Un-American-Activities-Committee-HUAC

         House Un-American Activities Committee, otherwise known as HUAC, was a group that investigated communists and people that associated with communists. This group was established in 1938and  was lead by chairman, Martin Dies. They accused numerous people and once they believed to have found one, they pressured them to submit the names of other communists or communists sympathizers. Some of the most famous of the accused were,  Hollywood Ten, Elia Kazan, Pete Seeger, Bertolt Brecht, Arthur Miller, and Alger Hiss. They had many questionable techniques used to get their information and they were constantly on the headlines of local newspapers. After awhile the committee was renamed, then later abolished in 1975.

         I believe that the HUAC was taken too far. Many accused the members of going against the First Amendment. Their tactics and accusations were sometimes taken to the extreme. There is a reason that so many people picketed the hearings and that this committee was abolished in 1975. The House on Un-American Activities Committee ruined many people's lives during the Cold War and I am glad the charges on the protestors were dropped. Those people did in fact have the right of freedom of speech.

Puritan Plain Style.

http://www.ushistory.org/us/3d.asp

   

      Part of the everyday life of a Puritan as a child included attending school. Schools were mandatory for communities with 50 families or more. The main reason they had schools was so that their children could read the Bible. Their entire lives circled around God and how they could praise him. There were no non-religious schools like we have today. Their purpose of being there was simply to be a better Puritan by being able to read the Bible. This simple fact shows how much they were obssessed with staying close to their Puritan lifestyle. They did everything in their power to keep it that way. I believe that since they exposed their children to this kind of living it made it so that the next generation would live their lives the same way that they did. I think that their lifestyle was extreme and many things were unnecessary, like their form of punishment, but that is how they were raised and that is how they raised their children. They did this both inside and outside of school.