Crucible Essay Post

Sam Saslow                                                         Humanities

7th Grade

3/6/17                                                                                                The Crucible

Reputation Throughout History

 

Theme: Reputation

What do people do with a good reputation? Many people use their reputation to gain power and followers. A reputation is your status in your society. In history people try to gain a good reputation by lying or boasting then use their reputation to gain power. This occurs during The Crucible which is based off the Salem witch hunts in the 1690s, The Red Scare in the 1950s, and even today. Throughout history people do things to try to improve their reputation in order to gain power and create fear. They lie or boast and try to make themselves look better to improve their reputation.

In The Crucible By Arthur Miller having a good reputation is everything. There are many examples of people trying to lie or boast to gain a good reputation. Many characters use their reputation to gain power especially when they are in court. If you have a good reputation you would probably not be suspected of doing anything bad. Also a lot of people would boast or lie in court to help themselves not get in trouble. In Act III John Proctor, a farmer, tells Mary Warren, an indentured servant, to confess to the court. Instead of confessing she lies and accuses him of being the “devil’s man.” “MARY WARREN: You’re the devil’s man! He wake me every night his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign,” (Miller, p.113). Mary Warren is accusing John Proctor of being the devil’s man. She does this so she does not get in trouble or punished. Since she wants more power in the court she lies to stay out of trouble. She is not only improving her reputation, but making John Proctor’s worse. This a perfect example of lying to gain power and to have a good reputation. Not only did people lie and boast to improve their reputation in The Crucible but also during The Red Scare. Many people did this such as Joseph McCarthy accusing people of communism.

At the end of WWII many people wanted a good reputation and power to stay out of trouble. During the Red Scare in the 1950s there was a lot of fear of communism going around. People were being accused left and right because of communism and were losing their jobs. Joseph McCarthy the Senate of Wisconsin who created McCarthyism claimed he had a list of people who were communists. McCarthy would lie about the list and in truth he never had one. He used that fake list to gain power which also helped him gain a good reputation. The list that McCarthy made also created fear during The Red Scare. Joseph McCarthy, also would boast to gain a good reputation and power. “McCarthy often exaggerated his war record to help his political career. For example, he was photographed in the rear seat, or tail-gun position, of a dive bomber and called himself ‘Tailgunner Joe,’ which led voters to believe he had fought bravely in combat. In fact, most of his work had been behind a desk,” (The Red Scare Fitzgerald, p.41). McCarthy lied to gain a good reputation. By lying he gained a better reputation. He also gained more power. McCarthy really wanted power because he needed it if he wanted to accuse people of being communists. If he was a nobody no one would believe what he was saying. This made his reputation better which then lead to more power for McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was definitely one to boast and lie this theme has continued through history and is very common today especially with Donald Trump.   

Even in today’s world this theme still occurs with our president and many other people. Donald Trump is very similar to McCarthy and characters in The Crucible in many ways. One big way he is similar to these characters is the fact that he also loves to lie and boast to gain a good reputation just like McCarthy. Donald Trump boasts about his money, power, and fame. He is definitely a man who lies and boasts about himself to gain power and a good reputation. He loves to talk about how rich he is and all of his supporters. “I have millions of followers. Millions. I don’t do press releases anymore. If I want a press release, I put it out on Twitter…. It’s like owning the New York Times without the losses,” (Washington Post Donald Trump 2012 speech). Donald Trump is boasting about his followers and the power he has. He does this to gain power and a good reputation so he can gain voters just like McCarthy. For Donald trump having a good reputation is very important to him. If he fails as the president his reputation will be ruined. So he believes that the way he could do a better job as president is by banning all illegal immigrants. By doing this Donald Trump is ruining the reputation of illegal immigrants in a significant way. Although Donald Trump has lots of power and fame he will do anything to improve his reputation. Being the President is very serious and it’s very important to maintain a good reputation. Donald Trump takes this very seriously and would do anything to improve his reputation even lying about what he can do to make America great again.  

In American history, many people attempt to improve their reputation and to gain power by lying or boasting. In The Crucible many characters try to improve their reputation by lying. This has gone on throughout history during the The Red Scare, and modern day. Not only do people lie or boast to improve their reputation but they also create fear to improve their reputation especially today. This has two negative effects. If people find out they are lying about their reputation it will ruin their own reputation. Also it ruins the reputation of other people even today with the president ruining the reputation of the illegal immigrants. Will people ever stop lying or boasting to improve their reputation and just work hard? Or will history continue to repeat itself?

In this assignment we were asked to choose a theme and write an essay on witch hunts throughout history. We focused on three time periods; The Crucible, which was based of the 1690s, the Red Scare in 1920-1950, and current day. My theme was reputation and how people used their reputation to gain power throughout history. Having a reputation is being seen or judged in different ways. When writing this essay I learned a lot. For example I learned that people used their reputation to gain power and create fear. I learned how to connect different time periods in many different ways. I also realized some things as well such as that history repeats its self.

When I got my Crucible essay back I excelled in a few things but also I needed to improve in a few things as well. I did very well in finding evidence to support my ideas, I did well in generating a good thesis statement. I also did well in understanding the literature in written responses. I needed to improve in proper writing conventions. I can improve by always checking my work 2-3 times and not to rush my work. By doing this I will achieve my goal.