0:12 – the name is supposed to be Arthur Miller
How has the exploration of “The Crucible,” deepen your understanding of diverse, complex ideas about identity, others, and the world?
Exploring “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller has allowed me to comprehend identity, others and the world in many different instances. By diving into the theme of social hierarchy, I became aware of the continuity of influences that it holds. I explored the six different social classes during the time of “The Crucible” and compared them to many current news articles concerning these social classes in many different parts of the world.. The main takeaway is that through many diverse and even contrasting ideas, the same behaviours and characteristics are deeply rooted within individuals of the same class. I became aware that as humans, we require an abstract idea to worship so that we do not feel as though we bare the weight of our lives in our hands. This means that religion is paying an influencing role in politics even if the government denounces a separation between church and state. There is no possible way to separate our personal experiences from the ideas that we impose politically. I learned about how when an abstract idea like God is at the top of the hierarchy, people may take advantage for their selfish gain. Exploring characters with high social status and comparing them to present day high society allowed me to understand that ones place in society shapes the way that they behave in certain situations. I came to the understanding that no matter how rich, nothing is perfect and satisfaction is never truly there. It also helped to fuel my understanding concerning appearances and how society forces people to strive for a non-blemished reputation as they believe that it is all that affects them in life. I became aware of how both in the time of “The Crucible” and in present day, being in the middle class requires a form of sacrifice. The characters with low social status, were examples of todays repressed minorities who are often the targets of social conflict. There has never been a time when being further down on the ladder did not require hard work and persistency in order to be heard. Often, those who were further down were simply isolated, overlooked and blamed for the problems of the time. This brought me to the conclusion that the characteristics that people possess are results of what they have been through and their personalities are a sum of everything that has affected them. I learned to understand that someones identity is not lock and key with the situation that they are in, but is a composition of all of the influences in their lives. It is important to look at others and understand where they are coming from. It is even more important to not diminish peoples inputs based on where they are coming from, no matter if they are higher up on the social status or further down.
How do you critically, creatively, and reflectively explore the ideas within, between, and beyond “The Crucible?”
In order to put together a comparison project I had to analyze every social class with a very critical lens. I took into consideration every conflict, so that it could be compared to the tragedies and headlines in todays news. It was important to truly understand where each character was coming from so that the incident in the story could be rightfully matched with a current event. This initiated a reflection on how history has been continuously repeating itself. Even if these repetitions are not evident from the surface, they are found at the core fundamentals of the problems. Exploring the past and the present allowed me to encounter many different ideas and life lessons that are truly static, however, wear masks as if they have evolved with the modern times. I touched on the themes of excuse, greed, appearances, sacrifice, experimenting and isolation that are found in the separation of social class. In order to project these issues I introduced current events that many people have little to no awareness of. This was my way of creatively integrating an education piece into my project. Reflecting and evening heightening my own awareness on certain topics stimulated so many ideas about our world today. It allowed me to learn about connections, make my own connections and to share connections with others, that maybe they did not think of themselves. Anotber aspect of creativity stemmed from the storyboard scenarios in the video. I made all of the relevant characters using storyboard. This required research so that I was aware of each characters physical appearance and even taught me about the fashion and style of the time period which was something interesting for me personally.