The Crucible: John Proctor- Hero or Stooge?

Is John Proctor (a farmer in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller) a hero or a stooge? First of all lets start with the definitions of hero and stooge. A hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, regarded as a model or ideal.  A stooge is a person who is "played" or taken advantage of by another person. In my opinion he doesn't fit in the definition of a hero.

You can say he tried to be a hero by proving that Abigail's accusation of his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, and the accusation of the other two women were false, but ultimately he's a stooge because he didn't tell people what he knew about the girls until it was to late. By the time that he did tell, it was to late the girls had already gained the trust of many people and soon people didn't believe in what he said. If he is a hero, he would have told the truth earlier instead of thinking of whether to go to court or not. He could have prevented the girls from gaining so much trust.

He first tried to get Mary to tell the court that the girls were pretending to be possessed by the people that had been convicted. He showed them the papers that she wrote saying that the girls were pretending to be possessed. Although she did tell the truth, she soon mentally broke down when Abigail and the girls started pretending that she is sending out her spirit to attack them. Due to their actions, Mary says that her words were all lies forced upon her by John Proctor. Now they think Proctor is a liar.

The next thing Proctor does to try to save the convicted was confessing that he had an affair with Abigail. He told them that Abigail's motive in accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft was so that she can have him all for herself. To make them believe him, he tells them when and where this took place. To see if John Proctor was telling the truth, they have Elizabeth to come and testify that this did occur. But she denies it ever occurred, and soon John was deem a liar and a sinner. After this the girls start saying that he sided with the devil. Soon the judge ordered him to confess or be executed.

In the end he was executed. By this it shows that he isn't a hero, if he is a hero then he would have told the truth early. He couldn't save anyone and soon all his friends were killed. I also think he was foolish in not signing the document admitting he was on the devil's side and that he was a witch. If he had signed it people might had stop accusing one another afterward, since they would see that he had confessed. He could have saved other people from being trial for witchcraft.

Please leave a comment on what you think he is.

Response to Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

After reading Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, I got to learn about Jonathan Edwards and his beliefs regarding Christianity. If I had lived in this Puritan community during this time, I would have thought everything that he was talking about was true all along, because I would have known what the Ten Commandments (Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, Thou shall not kill, etc.) were and I wouldn't have been surprise that everything he talked about  would happen to us if we commit a sin. Some people might have been horrify at the punishments that awaits them if they commit any sins and then they would have started to change their ways so in not to anger God.  Some people would probably not have believed anything he says and then they'll move to a new community since they won't be accepted in the Puritan neighborhood for not believing in what they believe in.

Back to the current time, since I went to a Catholic school and was taught about God's kindness and mercy and how He created us all equal in his image and how He loves all his creations. I don't believe that God would hate somebody and then waits for that person to commit a sin and then condemn that person to Hell. If He actually does do that, then why would you try to please God, if he's always going to hate you? Even if you do go to Heaven, he'll still hate you.

I may have been taught at a Catholic school, but I'm definitely not Catholic. I believe in a God though but I don't really support any religion.

Jonathan Edwards giving a sermon.

There Goes The Neighborhood

     
Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas in 1492. He thought he had found a route to India ( which was his goal), so he called the people he found of the island(Hispaniola) Indians. He had relatively good relations with the Native Americans he encountered during his first voyage. But, beginning with his second voyage, these relations turned sour, with some tribes. Because the Spanish had come to America as conquerors. Therefore, it was no surprise war broke out between the Spanish settlers on Hispaniola and the natives. Soon people looking for wealth and adventure came and soon conquered many of the Indians such as the Aztecs and the Incas. The Spanish not only bought with them the desire for wealth, they also bought many diseases that killed many of the Native Americans, because they have no defense against them. Overall about 90% of all the Native Americans died because of the war and diseases.

But they not only bought destruction on many Native Americans, as we can see later on some European settlers, such as the French made alliances with some Native Americans. The French and the Native Americans worked together during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), because the British wanted to take over the fur trade from the French and also the Indians were afraid the British would take their lands so they helped the French.

Overall, I think that the Native Americans didn't benefit and sometimes some benefited from the Europeans. Even though the Europeans bought with them many diseases that killed many Native Americans, even so some Native Americans still was able to work with some of the settlers, which helped to improve some of their lives. Since they depended on the Europeans for trade and sometimes protection. So Columbus discovery of the new world helped some Native Americans but also lowered the living conditions of many other. So his discoveries have its goods and bad, but mostly bad.  

Introduction

Hi. Let me introduce myself first, I'm David Zhen. I'm a sophomore.

Over the summer I did a few things. Some of the things I did was go bike riding, but on some days i just stay home and go on the computer or just watch television. Every weekend during the summer I would always go to my parent's family owned restaurant and help out there from the time they're open to when they close at night. Some of the work I do there involve cutting/washing vegetables, washing the dishes (but I take turn with my cousin to do that), answer the phone and that the costumers orders, and package the food. If I'm doing nothing at the restaurant, I'll normally just be sitting around. Everyday at the end of the day my parents would pay me. Also over the summer I taught my little brother the multiplication table and some division.  Overall I think I had a good summer and is glad to be finally back at Whitney Young learning again. 

Last year during my freshmen year the only club that I joined was the Garden Club, where we got to plant some plants n seeds and then we took care of them throughout the year. I was one of the person from the group of people who helped build the greenhouse which is outside next to the Physical Education and Academic Buildings. Also during the Taste of Whitney last year I helped to sell plants and food to help get money for the Garden Club.

Things like to do are browse the internet or play game on the internet. I always like to read a good book once in awhile. I like to help my parents at their restaurant so they have less stress. I also like to solve the rubix cube. i learned how to solve it in the summer 2008. These are just some of the things I like to do,

Sometimes when I do my homework I get distracted and procrastinate.

In my house I have my mom,dad, and little brother. We live in a two floor house, with a main floor and the basement.

We have a ping pong table in the basement which i sometimes use to play with with my cousin and little brother.

We'll heres a introduction about myself.