1. "Because it speaks deceit, and I am honest! But I'll please no more! I see now your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!" (pg. 59)
This quote is a good look inside the character of John Proctor. It shows just how tormented John Proctor is. It seems like he blames himself so much that no matter what people say or do he thinks that they are blaming him for what he has done. It is the one skeleton in his closet he can't escape and it's interesting to see how it shapes the way he acts. He is driven by guilt and that causes him to burst out the way he does.
2. "Aye, but then Judge Hathorne say, 'Recite for us your commandments!'... and of all the ten she could not say a single one. She never knew no commandments, and they had her in a flat lie!"
This quote shows a lot into the worldview of the people of this time. They had such a high esteem for religious piety and scripture that things like this could be taken for solid evidence. This shows that so much could be fabricated and could stand untouched because since it was a spiritual battle there couldn't be solid proof. Cases were based on superstition and acting. This quote shows the amount of hysteria that was in the air at the time.
I agree with your second quote... people can only see one side of the coin. The only see the fact that the woman cant say any of the commandments... but they dont look deeper than that. They dont ask whether or not she has a bible, or if she has been taught certain things, or anything. They just look at the outside of peoples actions and dont wonder if theres another meaning besides the obvious.
ReplyDeleteI find it funny that the people of Salem thought that if you didn't know the Bible, or parts of the Bible then you were with the devil, especially seeing that Satan knows scripture. In Matthew when Satan was tempting Jesus he quoted scripture, before he was the Devil, he was the highest of the angels, so technically knowing the scripture does not determine whether you are with God or not. That was just interesting to me.
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