Name:Elijah Humanities
7th Grade Comparative Essay
Imagine if your role models, and the people who represented you in every way, went against everything you stood for in a single moment. If they had promised many things, but then changed their ideas for the sole purpose of self gain, they would be hypocrites. Hypocrisy has been a driving factor in all of the persecutions that have taken place from the Salem witch trials, to the Red Scare, to the present day. Hypocrisy has always been a get out of jail free card for those who are in power because they can always dismiss their past beliefs in a way to keep their reputation up.. Hypocrisy has always and will always be eminent in society because it’s of natural human nature to lie to save your reputation.
Hypocrisy is a major theme in the Crucible, and is shown through many characters. Those who are hypocritical misuse their power, and end up as the antagonists in the story. Hypocrisy comes more from those in power, like Reverend Parris, or Deputy Governor Danforth, and sometimes others take notice of these things. In the play, John Proctor is quick to point out Parris’s hypocrisy. “But Parris came, and for twenty week he preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them. I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses,” Proctor says, (Miller, P. 89) This quote shows pure hypocrisy on account of Parris. The entire puritan religion is about being simple and honest. Meeting houses built by hand– bent wooden beams. That’s what they’re society is built of. But their minister, Reverend Parris is going against that. Literally the leader of the religion, Parris, is going against the founding principle religion by searching for wealth. This is only one of many examples of hypocrisy. Danforth is incredibly hypocritical. Danforth condemns many, many people just to keep his reputation intact. Everybody is hypocritical but they take it to an extreme in the Crucible. When there’s hysteria, people act very differently. When people started accusing left and right, everybody went crazy. Hypocrisy can lead to greed and scapegoating, and of course, that’s exactly what happened in the Crucible. Everything is connected. History repeats itself. This was not the only time there was widespread hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy in the McCarthy Era was widespread because of leaders like Joseph McCarthy, who set an example for others which led them to corruption, and scapegoating. During the McCarthy era, the U.S. Senate was contradicting the Constitution of the United States. That’s like someone writing a how to book, and then saying that it doesn’t work. It’s complete hypocrisy. Many, many people were brought before congress, and forced to give names of other “communists.” If they didn’t testify, they were persecuted. This is a direct violation of the 5th amendment. “Nor shall in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” (Constitution of the United States of America.) When the U.S. Senate contradicts the Constitution, it’s a prime example of hypocrisy because it’s basically their job to go by the Constitution. They’re tearing apart the system which they’re supposed to be maintaining. The charge was led by Joseph McCarthy, who falsely accused thousands of people, but it turned out was making all of it up. He was the biggest hypocrite of them all. McCarthy said to have a list of communists, but it turns out, there was never a list, and he was making it all up for attention. McCarthy hadn’t done anything really as a Senator since he had been elected. He wanted the spotlight, and he was willing to do whatever would get him center stage. Even in our common day we have leaders like Joseph McCarthy.
Donald Trump shows an enormous amount of hypocrisy, through his public policies and his private life, this results in doubt of the people, and corruption of the office. Trump’s hypocrisy is most evident when he’s talking about the issues in the country. He often changes his opinion at times that seem a little too convenient for him. The New York Times notes his hypocrisy in an article about him. “If Mr. Trump favored such a hard line on immigration, the logic went, should he not then favor the deportation of his own wife, Melania, who was alleged to have worked while in the United States on a visitor’s visa? The charge of hypocrisy didn’t stick, not so much because it placed its proponents, unwittingly, in the distasteful position of advocating the deportation of someone for a long-ago and common transgression, but because Mr. Trump wasn’t just breaking the rules of political conduct: He was destroying them.” (The New York Times.) Trump has condemned many immigrants in this country, when his own wife is an immigrant. The difference is that his wife is rich and white. The people he’s persecuting tend to be from Latin America, or the Middle East. This is just plain racist. Trump has also accused many many people of being hypocrites, but he himself is a hypocrite. That’s hypocrisy on it’s own. It’s a paradox. Trump has many, many instances of hypocrisy, he hates immigrants but his wife is an immigrant. He tweeted before the election about how awful the electoral college was, but he pulled ahead in the polls, and suddenly it’s genius. This shows a lot of hypocrisy from our president. People overlooked his hypocrisy, and voted for him. Now we have a sexist, racist, bigot as our president. Trump is so unintelligent that he says things that he contradicts over and over again. He’s changed his views on almost all of his issues. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he always seems to change his opinions at times where it would really save his face. He has no respect for anything but his reputation. Hypocrisy is a theme in our world and will always be a theme. No matter how much we learn, history repeats himself.
Throughout all of history, hypocrisy has been a driving factor in all of the wrong decisions we’ve made, because people tend to contradict their core beliefs for self gain. In the Crucible, Danforth condemns countless innocent people because he can’t admit he was wrong, even when he knows. McCarthy completely tattered the constitution just to get attention. Trump “hates all immigrants”, but his own wife is an immigrant. Hypocrisy is always on our shoulder whispering in our ears, but it will fall off when we learn to work together instead of only working for ourselves. If we learn to do that, all of our lives will be much better. Could we have a world without hypocrisy?
