John Proctor, Hero or Stooge?

In a novel a character has many chances to define who they are and fix their mistakes. In the case of John Proctor in The Crucible he has proved himself to be a stooge in my opinion.  A stooge is known as a chump, idiot, oaf, goof, fool, and dummy. I feel all these words perfectly describe the character of John Proctor. He had so many chances to fix what he started in the book but he was foolish enough not to do anything so many people died. By having the affair with Abigail the niece of Reverend Parris he started the Salem witch trials. Only Abigail, Elizabeth Proctor and himself knew about the affair, no one in the town had any idea about it.  So when the girls were running around in the woods they were performing a ritual to have Elizabeth Proctor killed. Abigail wanted Elizabeth dead so she could take her spot as the wife of John. This started the witch trials because everyone thought that the women of the town were performing black magic like the girls were caught doing in the middle of the night. John Proctor was completely aware of this but he did nothing to stop it not wanting to spoil his good name. If it was found out that he had an affair he would be looked down upon and horrible things would happen to him since he had sex outside his marriage. So many women died because of an affair he wanted no one to know of. Those are not characteristics of what I define as a hero.

John Proctor stood aside while many people in his town died because they were accused of being witches.  Witches were only being accused because of his affair that he wouldn’t own up to. That is what a coward would do not a hero. John Proctor looked out only for himself and no one else that is what a stooge does not a hero, he saved no one but himself in the book.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

In a puritans point of view this idea of doing the slightest thing wrong and you would no longer go to heaven in my opinion is absurd. This is what the minister Jonathan Edwards traveled around and preached to anyone who would listen. I think he used fear to control people, to make sure people didn’t sin and followed strictly to the religion he also believed in. If I was a puritan I would be scared out of my mind to do anything wrong. I wouldn’t be able to say I don’t want to be part of this religion anymore. You couldn’t do that when everyone you knew believes in those beliefs and follow them. You can’t be the one that goes against the mass because you think differently, unless it’s up to morals. At the time though most people didn’t have a choice of their religion, some towns would all be one religion and so you were part of it no matter what. So many believed out of fear of god’s wrath and others just because everyone around them was part of that religion.

            Today these strict religions still exist today, an example is the Amish who follow strict beliefs. I think though using fear to make people believe in a religion is wrong. People should be part of a religion because they share those common beliefs not because they are told if they don’t believe in this, god will smite you. People should be part of a religion because they want to be not because they have to be, religion is a choice and always should be.

Well there goes the Neighborhood !

America is known as the melting pot. I don’t think this statement is entirely true. America is made up of many different cultures but they don’t always blend together. Many cultures stick together because they share beliefs and views in common, yet most don’t really branch out.

I think I live in a very diverse neighborhood, but there still have been some challenges in the past that are still present and visible today.  After prohibition, when alcohol was banned in the 1920’s, each precinct in Chicago got to vote if they wanted alcohol in their precinct. This is why in Beverly the west side of Western Avenue is the “wet” side, meaning that alcohol could be served and sold. This is also why in my neighborhood all the bars are only on one side of Western Avenue. In the 1920’s all the Irish Catholics lived on the west side of Beverly, which was also the poor side. They voted to have alcohol in their neighborhood.  They believed that there was nothing wrong with it.

On the other hand, the Baptists lived on the east side, which was also the rich side, but they didn’t believe in alcohol. It was against their beliefs and the Baptists didn’t want it where they lived. This caused fights between the two groups, each fighting the others beliefs on the topic. When it all was settled, west would be the wet side and east would be the dry side where you can’t buy or serve alcohol.

Even to this day this is how my neighborhood is set up. After many decades and the mixing of the neighborhood with other ethnicities (not just Catholics and Baptists) nothing has changed.  People have tried to change it and have petitioned to add alcohol for restaurants, but it has been rejected every time. It seems that no one wants change.  This is what they know and have grown up with.

Sometimes the clashing of cultures can have positive affects and I think cultural mixing is healthy for people to grow.  Clashing is not always bad. What do you think? Would you be against alcohol or for it?

Introduction to Me

Hello! My name is Devin Hurley and I am sophomore in American literature this year. Literature isn't one of my favorite subjects but I still enjoy it. I love to read when I find a really good book that I can’t put down until the last page. My favorite classes are my sign language class and my chemistry class, I really enjoy learning those topics. I attend school every day with brother who is a senior this year and my other brother graduated last year when I was a freshman and also my little sister wants to attend next year. We live in Beverly so we take the Metra then the blue line. My brother doesn’t like to sit with me so I sit with my friends and him with his. I like going to school and learning but I think it would be more enjoyable if there was less homework.

I have been playing volleyball since I was in 3rd grade and now I play for the school team. I was captain of the freshman team last year and this year I am the captain of junior varsity (jv). When I’m not playing for the school team I like to play club volleyball and we travel all over during the weekends which always gets in the way with doing my homework. I also played on the Whitney Young softball team we had one game before the season was cancelled last year. I didn’t do any clubs last year but I want to join to this year like yearbook. This year I plan to join Habitat for Humanities also because my brother graduated and left the club. I wasn’t aloud to be in the same club as him because he didn’t want his freshman sister following him around and being in the same clubs. I think this year is going to be super exciting and I’m excited to get started even though it mean saying goodbye to the late night of summer and hello to the long night of homework.

In my free time I love to just relax, listen to music and hangout with some friends. I love being creative and I love working and making stuff with my hands. I really enjoy sculpting and molding things out of clay and I’m going to take a class for that next year. I wouldn’t say I’m a animal person but I like dog, birds and squirrels freak me out. My family and I travel a lot and I have been all over the U.S and out of the country. I have been to Australia twice in my lifetime and my family and I go every 4 year. I have friends there that we keep in contact with. I love to travel and I want to travel all over the world when I get older. I live in Chicago the big city now but one day I want to live in a place like North Carolina or Georgia near the ocean where its quiet and calm away from all the hustle and bustle of the city. There I want to study and be a marine biologist in the future. I love challenging myself and I always look forward to a new challenging starting with American literature this year.