Let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Huck

Review of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Here’s a fun fact about me; I’ve read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn five times.

1) Summer between 9^th and 10^th grade

2) Fall of 10^th grade once the teacher learned not everyone had read it

3) 12^th grade because 2 kids out of 14 hadn’t read it and the teacher thought that was unacceptable

4) Freshman year of college

5) Junior year of college, for fun this time

Huckleberry Finn has changed for me over the years, and has become a story I now truly enjoy. I own a beat-up old copy I bought for $1.99. It’s full of my notes; the cover is falling off, and written on that falling off cover are the addresses of my friends. Needless to say this paperback and the story it contains means a lot to me. After all, it is all about the journey, man.  

*Summary Contains Spoilers*

Huck’s story opens where Tom Sawyer left off. Huck has been “adopted” by the Widow Douglas. The old widow and her sister Miss Watson take on the task of “sivilizing” him. Poor Huck has to wear starch white shirts and read the Bible, and he’s having none of it. He joins Tom and some of the other local boys for some shenanigans, but even that doesn’t really help. Huck is itching for something to happen, and around that time his father returns and kidnaps him.

Now, Huck wasn’t a big fan of being sivilized, but living in the woods with his drunk, abusive father isn’t great either. So, Huck fakes his own death and hides while the village combs the river looking for him. While hiding Huck meets Jim, Miss Watson’s slave. Jim’s a runaway and after their hiding place is compromised the two grab a raft and head down the river. Their plan is eventually ditch the raft and take a steamboat north where slavery is illegal.

Of course, things don’t work out that easily. Huck and Jim have many misadventures on the river from meeting a group of robbers in an abandoned steamboat, getting caught up in a feud between two old Southern families, and running cons with the King and the Duke.

One of the most frustrating things about reading Huckleberry Finn the first time is the picaresque style it’s written in. I had never read anything like it before and found the episodic text puzzling. Especially to a kid who was always taught that every story has a predictable sequence with one distinct climax/turning point.

Now, the picaresque is one of my favorite things about this novel. The style of the book allows the reader to be taken on an adventure with Huck and Jim and meet all the crazy characters along the way.

There are many ways to interpret all the stops along with way, but overall Huck gets a picture of all the ways sivilization works. From the racists to the con men, to the liars and the lovers. Those in the midst of an ancient feud and everyone in between. Huck doesn’t meet a lot of likeable people, but isn’t that just the way the world works?

Even though the book is written episodically it can be argued that there is one distinct climax, and that’s when Huck considers turning Jim in but decides against it. Jim and Huck are a classic literary team and a lot can be learned from their dynamic about the time period the book takes place in as well as human interactions.

The end of the book doesn’t quite live up the rest of the text, and is a little abrupt. Legend has it that Twain didn’t know where he wanted the story to go next so he just tied it all up nicely with a shiny bow, had it published, and went along his merry way.

The ultimate question I’ve been asked about the book is whether or not the journey leads to Huck becoming sivilized. But, a better question is whether or not Huck wants to be sivilized?

And the answer? A resounding NO!    

Sure Huck wants some sort of family, but he’s so good at looking out for himself. Pap certainly isn’t good for our hero, but neither is the widow. He appreciates the people who try to take care of him, but he’s stifled but those who try to change him. Huck is his own man and he likes his freedom.

 

Supplementary Texts:

1) Articles about the “controversial” nature of the novel. (Like this one.) The book takes place in pre-Civil War deep south. People own slaves, they are racist, and they drop the N-word often. Editions of the book have been released with the N-word taken out, but I think that’s really detrimental to Twain’s vision. He provides a beautifully accurate portrait of a harsh time period and that cannot be overlooked. You could even…

2) Host a debate. Have your students debate the turning point of the book, whether or not Huck becomes sivilized, Jim’s intentions, and the use of racist terms within in the book.

3) Movie previews. When I read the novel the 4^th time, the teacher showed the class the trailers for the different movie versions of Huckleberry Finn. Just watching these trailers and small clips you can see what directors picked out as the most important parts of this novel and most of it is hilarious. These clips provide the class a great way to pull out important themes and motifs. Here’s the original. And the more recent Disney version. (There are several others too.)

4) Maps of Missouri. Have your students map out Huck’s journey so they can visualize. Fill your classroom with pictures of the era to get everyone in the mood for learning! Here’s an interesting lesson to get your map project started. It’s a great review tool too!

Report Card:

This book is deserving of its status as a classic and has so much to offer its readers. Huck is great for the classroom and I look forward to getting the chance to teach a unit featuring this novel. 

Huckleberry Finn is everything a high schooler should want. He answers to himself and has his own point of view of the world, and he should be applauded for it. Huck is clever and a problem solver. He’s an innocent and doesn’t let some of the ugliness he encounters change the way he views life (or his friends). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gets a definite A.

Don’t make me throw this hummus, its spicy!

A unit plan text set based on The Crucible 

This weekend I was babysitting and took my young charges to see ParaNorman. As I sat in the theater with my contraband grocery store candy I found myself thinking back to my witchy blog posts, and the note I added about supplementary texts in my Minister’s Daughter entry. So, I decided to expand Why do we have to read this? to include the occasional blog solely about supplementary texts.

First of all, I realize I have yet to review a nonfiction book. That being said, I can’t knock the importance of them. This blog is meant to be a journey/reflection of my own literary experience through high school and college and how I feel it has shaped me as a reader and how this experience would shape other readers.

But, the fact of the matter is that the times they are a-changing.

The entire face of teaching is changing under new standards and teacher evaluations. 80% of what we read in the English classroom should be nonfiction. So, here is a sample set of texts I feel support a unit centered on the Miller’s classic The Crucible.

Let’s begin with some themes. The unit is not Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the unit is a theme that is supported by the text. Some themes for this play are: Mass hysteria, abuse of power, and one’s reputation/place in society. There are more, but that should hold you over ‘til dinner.   

Moving on, The Crucible is a work of fiction but is based on true events. A good place to start is with some historical context. First of all, let us not forget this play isn’t just about Salem, The Crucible is a response to Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunt in America. Lucky for us, the transcripts of the McCarthy Senate Hearings are all available online. Find them here. Pick a section and make your classroom a courtroom! Have students act out a scene before you begin reading the play and then compare and contrast as the tale unravels.

 

For more historical background try; The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson. Honestly, I have not read this but it comes highly recommended, is at a fair reading level and is supposed to present all the facts in an interesting and easy way. Plus, those of us who have read Jackson’s other work know how awesome she is. There are many other books and articles out there about Salem, so do some research and find the ones you like best for your classroom.  

As a fiction supplement, you all already know how I feel about The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn. This would probably be better as an independent read but the themes of hysteria and the reputation of one in a closed society are still there. 

Any good English teacher knows that a “text” isn’t just a book. There are many things that can be read and interpreted. So let us not limit our list to books and add Witch Hunt by Rush. Take a listen here. Witch Hunt is an amazing song from an amazing album by an amazing band, but that is neither here nor there. The important thing is the song presents a lovely music representation of hysteria. The listener can hear the mob at the ready, and feel the escalating tension. Make sure to look at the lyrics too, because they’re awesome! This song lends itself to discussion not only about Salem and the McCarthy Senate Hearings, but also about modern-day witch hunts. This leads to the next nonfiction segment—send your students on a witch hunt!

Have students find articles/news stories/etc about “witch hunts” in more modern times. Think the terrorist witch hunt after 9/11. Is it an election year? Think about the attacks on candidates by the public, the media, and other candidates. Barack Obama is a communist who’s not actually an American citizen? May as well call him a witch. There are so many opportunities here to make connections, and talk about history and the society we live in today. Ask your students: Have we really, truly changed? How do rumors get spread nowadays? Would there have been more deaths in Salem if Abigail & Company had unlimited texting?

Finally, the inspiration for this whole thing—ParaNorman. The last thing I expected when I went to see this movie was to get a blog post out of it, yet here we are. The movie was entirely enjoyable and I loved the ode to old school horror films, though it was slightly more mature than I would have liked for the children I brought with me. ParaNorman brings in great elements of a town that is too quick to stir up history. There’s the hysteria and quick judgments we’ve all come to know and love so well. The movie is a great example of how fear changes people, and how quickly people turn on what they don’t understand. The lesson comes from Norman’s grandma, and it’s simple and beautiful: “There’s nothing wrong with being scared, Norman, as long as you don’t let it change who you are.”

This would be a great time to discuss with your students what the people of Salem were actually afraid of. Social disgrace? The devil? Being outcast? The fires of hell? That being said, what fears went along with the communist witch hunt? How are they similar/different from the Salem fears? Do people experience these fears nowadays?

 

So this is the beginning. There are obviously other texts to choose from, but these are some I feel are highlights. To the readers and teachers out there I’d love a comment on this post to let me know how this new branch of the blog is working out, and if it’s at all helpful. There is a lot changing in the realm of education right now and I think that a lot of people are fearful of the changes. But now is the time to be brave and face and accept all the newness head on. I believe this is an exciting time to be a teacher. There are going to be so many opportunities to become better, highly effective, teachers and the students have so much to gain from that. We expect our students to be prepared every day and for them to be 21^st Century Learners, but teachers also have to be constant learners. We need to be 21^st Century Learners ourselves. 

It’s getting to be that back to school time again. To the students: good luck, and remember, September means back to books! To the teachers: go get ‘em, tiger!

I read this whole book and still don’t know why MDC killed John Lennon

Review of The Catcher in the Rye by: JD Salinger 

Once again we begin in my junior year of high school. It was a very exciting time because we were about to read one of the ALA’s most frequently challenged books, The Catcher in the Rye. I remember my teacher making a really big deal about the fact that it’s a challenged book and telling us that if you found a book on the ALA’s most challenged list reprehensible for some reason then you didn’t have to read it.

At this point me, in all my glory, raised my hand and said “Well, MDC supposedly killed John Lennon because of Catcher in Rye and I’m pretty offended by that.”

My English teacher just stared at me. I’m not sure if I was the first person to ever question the “you don’t have the read the challenged book” thing or the first person to bring up John Lennon’s assassination, but either way I read Salinger’s book. Twice.

*Summary Contains Spoilers*

The story opens with our protagonist, 16 year old Holden Caulfield, about to be expelled from his 4^th fancy-pants prep school. Most of his classmates are at a football game and he watches them, feeling isolated. He goes to say goodbye to one of his favorite teachers, but becomes irritated when said favorite teacher gets on Holden’s case because he never applies himself.

Those darn teachers. Always prepared to lecture.

Holden only becomes more irritated when he returns to his dorm to find his roommate, Stradlater, leaving to meet his date Jane Gallagher. Holden gets jittery because he likes Jane and they used to “date” or something. He doesn’t like the idea of Stradlater getting it on with Jane, so when the guy gets home Holden confronts him. The boys wrestle and Holden acquires a bloody nose.

At this point in the novel it’s a few days before the fall semester ends for Christmas break. As he is now irritated all the phonies at school and is gonna get kicked out anyways, Holden decides to skip town early and go home to NYC, feeling isolated. However, he doesn’t go to his house and decides instead to check into a hotel for a few days. And so begins Holden’s romp around the city.

He takes a cab from the train station to the hotel and asks the driver what happens to the ducks in the central park lagoon in the winter. The driver is irritated with the question and just takes Holden to the hotel.

After he’s settled Holden tries to call some people, or thinks about trying to call them but, feeling isolated, comes up with all sorts of excuses.

He goes down to the bar in the hotel and dances with some women, and then begins to think about Jane. They met when their families vacationed in houses next door to one another. Jane and Holden used to hang out and they would play checkers on the porch in the evening. One night Jane’s stepfather interrupts the game, and she cries when he leaves. Holden takes her in his arms and tries to kiss her. She won’t let him kiss her mouth so he kisses her all over her face. And thus concludes Holden’s only sexual contact to date.

At this point in my English class I had read ahead of everyone else in the class, because I was into Holden’s story. I went to see my teacher during her planning period because I had some questions. Namely, do we ever find out in the book that Holden was abused in any way? I thought and still think the Holden’s withdrawn behavior may indicate that something horrific happened to him in his childhood. (Aside from the death of his brother.)

So, my teacher told me she always thought the same thing but my question isn’t ever really addressed. But, she said, keep reading and I’ll come to the part of the book that leads her to agree with me.

After a night of scotch and soda, Holden returns to the hotel where the elevator operator tells him he can send a prostitute to his room. Sunny the prostitute comes by, takes her dress off, sits on Holden’s lap, and Holden tells her he’s recovering from surgery and can’t have sex. He tries to have a nice talk with Sunny, but she’s not interested. Holden becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the entirety of the encounter and tells Sunny to leave.

The next day Holden calls up Sally, a girl he used to “date” and they spend the day together. Holden eventually asks her to run away with him and live in a cabin in Maine or Vermont. She’s horrified and reacts as such and Holden is horrified at her reaction and reacts as such. They part ways and Holden gets drunk, feeling isolated. He drunk dials Sally, and then decides to break into his parents’ house. As he’s creeping around he wakes up his little sister, Phoebe. Phoebe is the only person Holden likes. She scolds him for getting kicked out of school again and he tells her about his real dream…*drumroll please*…to be the catcher in the rye. Just like in the poem, he’ll save little children from falling off a cliff. Also known as protecting the innocence of children so they don’t grown up and become phony and jaded like him.

Phoebe tells him he’s ridiculous and he misinterpreted the poem. You can find it here.

Holden then goes to crash at another old teacher’s house, but when he wakes up to the teacher stroking Holden’s forehead Holden freaks and runs as he is severely homophobic.

The novel winds down with Holden sending a note to Phoebe telling her he’s running away. She wants to go with him and he, of course, refuses. Phoebe follows Holden anyways and he makes her ride a carousel. It begins to rain, but Holden is finally happy watching his sister acting as she should be—like a little girl. Holden then tells the reader he doesn’t want to bother them with the story of how he went home and got sick, but he does want to try to go back to school in the fall.      

I have heard two theories about the end of the novel and the setting from where Holden tells his story. 1) He had a psychotic break and is in a mental facility. 2) He got TB and is in a recovery home type place where he still sees a psychologist.

As Holden spends the majority of the novel wandering about NYC in December in the rain, drunk, and only a hunting hat for warmth, I can accept either ending as fact. Though as I am the gal writing this blog about Holden’s confession I think he would have to label me as phony, so you decide what ending works for you.

And here is where I sat, finishing the novel for the second time (once on my own and once on par with my class) and still had no idea why MDC thought Holden wanted John Lennon dead. Screw you MDC for ruining good literature and taking one of music’s greatest heroes from us.

Report Card:

Catcher in the Rye is a classic in the canon of high school literature. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who hasn’t read it, and the reaction is always the same—you either love it or you hate it.

For me, there are scenes in the novel that I really like (the carousel scene—BEAUTIFUL), and also scenes that I don’t (the Jazz bar, other drunk shenanigans). Overall, I do enjoy me some Catcher in the Rye. It’s a book that has grown on me over the years, and not being a teenager anymore has actually made me appreciate it more. Therefore, I shall give it an A.

But, there are some things to address.

1) Why is it such an important book for high schoolers to read? Some people say its because of Holden’s isolation. He’s angry and hormonal and just like any other 16 year old, right? Why don’t you want to read about this kid who’s lonely and searching for something for a real adult connection with someone, just like you?

Though I would argue the real importance of this book comes with all the themes running through it. High schoolers need to start thinking critically about books and movies and such and Salinger’s novel is a great jumping off point. From Holden’s feelings of isolation to his obsession with keeping his sister young and innocent there is so much to talk about and think about in regards to this novel. I remember Catcher sparking a lot of talk in my class, and good talk about good books is never a bad thing.

2) The Catcher in the Rye questions and conspiracy theories!

Is Holden crazy? Sick? Did he have a metal break or TB? Was he sexually abused? What life choices lead Sunny to prostitution? Was Jane sexually abused? Is the teacher really gay? How did Holden’s brother die? Are Holden’s parents cold and distant? Is Phoebe a super genius? Where do the Central Park ducks go in the winter?

I promise you these questions (but not their answers) and many more as you dive into Salinger’s classic The Catcher in the Rye!   

If you don’t know what a caul is, go ask your mother

Review of The Minister’s Daughter by: Julie Hearn

At long last I’ve returned with a new review for you all. After my review of The Crucible I thought back on reading it in high school. Around the same time I read The Minister’s Daughter by Julie Hearn.

Now, I’ve been ruined by my Education education and as soon as I thought about reading Hearn’s novel I started thinking about supplemental texts (aka the key to any good unit plan).

I’ve always been really curious about the Salem witch trials and love finding fun books that put a new twist on the events. The Minister’s Daughter isn’t about Salem but it carries a lot of the same themes and nicely compliments Miller’s play.

*Summary Contains Spoilers*

The novel opens with the beginning of The Confession of Patience Madden, 1692. She claims she’s finally going to tell the truth about what she and her sister Grace did when they still lived in England.

The story then switches to England in 1645 where we meet our protagonist, Nell. Nell is a Merrybegot (a child sacred to nature who is begot on May Morning) and granddaughter to the cunning-woman and healer of their small village. The cunning-woman is gaining in years and becoming forgetful so she’s teaching Nell the ways of the old knowledge.

Nell speaks with her friend Sam Towser who is madly in love with the minister’s daughter, Grace Madden. Sam tells her the minister has forbidden Maypoles, and frolicking in the woods and fields and any other kind on merry-making on May Morning as it is unholy.

To cut a long story short three important things happen on the eve before May Morning.

1) Nell is summoned by the fairy court to act as midwife for a fairy woman giving birth. She travels under the fairy hill and returns the next morning. The fairies also give her the caul as a gift.

2) Patience Madden, Grace’s younger sister, goes wandering in the night and meets the fairy messenger before he finds Nell. He asks her where the “Mary-by-God” is and poor Patience is convinced she has seen the devil. To add insult to injury she then witnesses…

3) Grace “frolicking” with Sam Towser who Patience is also convinced is the devil.

This eve sets off the rest of the novel told alternately through Patience Madden’s Confession and in the present of 1645.

Grace becomes pregnant and Sam Towser decides to skip town and join the King’s Army because possible death is a better option than marriage. Since Sam is already a dead beat dad Grace goes to the cunning-woman’s cottage to get a purge for the unborn thing. Nell informs Grace that her unborn child is a Merrybegot and it cannot be purged as it is protected by nature.

Needless to say Grace does not take this well. She formulates a plan to get Nell into some trouble and have her accused of witchcraft.

Poor Nell only makes things worse for herself when she tries to protect the baby by tossing a dead frog charm on Grace.

A witch-catcher is called into town and starts gathering evidence against Nell which culminates in the villagers getting caught into the panic and dunking the cunning-woman in the local pond. She doesn’t recover and dies but not before handing her secret box over to Nell. The box contains all her relics of the old knowledge and a little jeweled frog that belonged to Nell’s late mother.

Patience Madden finds out that her late mother had the same jeweled frog.

Yes, the minister’s late wife was also Nell’s mother. Lots of scandal in 1600s England.

Meanwhile, Nell goes for a walk in the woods to ease her grief and finds an injured soldier. She doesn’t know him but the force is strong with this one and Nell’s healer instincts take over. She uses her most precious charm, the fairy caul, and heals the soldier. Nell tells him there’s no need for payment and they part ways.

Flash to All Hallows Eve and the witch-catcher has all his evidence and goes to arrest Nell. She, of course, won’t confess to witchcraft. (Including casting a curse on Grace Madden to make her stomach mysteriously swell.) She is about to be hanged when *drumroll please* the wounded soldier comes back to rescue her!

And to put a cherry on that cupcake, he’s also Prince Charles II of England. Whew.

So our protagonist Nell lives out the rest of her life in happiness and can practice her healing in peace. The minister and his daughters travel to America and settle in…wait for it…Salem!

I must say, Nell’s ending is a little sugary sweet. The history woven into it is kinda cool, (Charles II really was in the part of England where Nell’s village is located in 1645 though the novel is 100% fiction) it is also a little cheesy.

The real good stuff comes with the ending of The Confession of Patience Madden. Patience spends most of the novel as a fly on the wall. She is ignored and called stupid and gets wrapped up in her sister’s scheme to hide her pregnancy. After the Maddens go to America Grace gets married and starts over and Patience becomes a spinster and keeps her father’s home.

Around this time as Patience gains in years Abigail Williams (a character we already love to hate) starts accusing people of witchcraft. Patience is accused and it turns out her Confession is meant to get her out of being tried as a witch.

She goes back to that night before May Morning when Grace was “frolicking” and tells the men her sister knew the devil in the biblical sense and gave birth to his demon spawn.

You see, Grace is the witch so go get her.

Report Card:

The twist Patience Madden’s Confession was just as raw and cold this time around as when I first read the novel. Other than that, I must say, I was a little disappointed with The Minister’s Daughter. It didn’t have the same bite as when I first read it, but for this I have some explanations.

1) When I first read the book I was chin-deep in the Salem witch trials. I absorbed and loved every bit of any type of story that had any remote connection to the period. Hearn’s novel is a really nice supplement to a unit surrounding The Crucible. It is accessible, and it involves really interesting narrative and storytelling devices with the alternating storylines. The novel also gives the readers access into the life and mind of someone who is a little quirky and outspoken and only trying to do the right thing but ends up almost dying because of it. The panic and paranoia motifs run deep.

2) I was 15 when I read this novel. One’s reading of a text dramatically changes over 7 years.     

That being said I will give The Minister’s Daughter my first dual grade—B /C. The B for when I first read it and it made me love learning history and English folklore even more, and the C for when I re-read it and it was a little sugary.

*Note*

For those of you who were worried, Grace Madden’s baby lived. She tried to throw it out in a snowstorm so it would freeze and die, but the boy is a Merrybegot so he was protected and taken in by a kindly village woman and her family. 

She turned me into a newt...I got better

Review of The Crucible by Arthur Miller 

Sophomore year of high school we read a lot plays in which my English teacher always gave himself the best part. He was Oedipus in Oedipus Rex, Agamemnon in The Oresteia, Caesar in Julius Caesar, and of course John Proctor in The Crucible. The Crucible was unique because the cast is big enough that every kid in the class got a part, so over the course of the unit we gave a less than enthusiastic performance and then wrote our papers like good honors English students.

In the time since 10^th grade I’ve been surprised at the times when The Crucible comes up in different conversations. I have friends who claim Miller’s play is the worst piece of writing they’ve ever held in their hands, and others who feel the complete opposite. So what kind of play is this that leads to such a varied audience?

*Summary Contains Spoilers*

The story opens in Salem, Massachusetts with the Reverend Parris praying over his sick daughter, Betty. It comes to light that Betty, her cousin Abigail and the other village girls were dancing in the woods with Tituba, a black slave from Barbados. The girls were engaged in some sort of heretic behavior which may or may not have involved voodoo, nudity, animal blood, and spells. Anyways, as they were engaging in such activities Parris stumbled upon the girls and most of them ran but Betty fainted and has been comatose ever since.

Abigail (the ringleader) threatens the other girls and tells them not to reveal what happened in the woods. At this point John Proctor, handsome hero and all-around good guy, enters and asks to speak to Abigail alone.

This is when we find out that our handsome hero and all-around good guy was engaged in an affair with Abigail when she worked at his house a year ago. His wife found out and fired Abigail, which is something the girl has never forgiven, nor has she relinquished her feelings for Proctor. She tries to seduce him in some expertly written colonial dialogue which involves a lot of “I know you!” (in the biblical sense) and comparisons of Proctor to a fine stallion. Being our handsome hero and all-around good guy, he pushes her away telling her to stop being a stupid girl and leave things alone.

Meanwhile, Tituba is accused of witchcraft so she starts accusing others of consorting with the devil. These accusations are something Abigail is all too happy to join in on and soon the now-awake Betty starts in too.

The Reverend Hale arrives as an expert witch hunter and starts “investigating” the goings-on in the town and people are arrested. At this point it becomes clear that there are some rifts in quaint little Salem already. There are arguments over plots of land and money and other things that upset people of young Salem. Not to mention that Abigail is now out for blood since she was rejected by Proctor.

Meanwhile, at the Proctor household, John discusses the arrests with his wife, Elizabeth. As they are the only two who know Abigail’s true nature Elizabeth asks her husband to tell the town the girl is a fraud. He refuses and she accuses him of resuming his affair. Their argument is cut short by their housekeeper girl, Mary Warren, showing up and saying Elizabeth has been accused of witchcraft.

Turns out that in court Mary was sewing a little doll and stuck her needle in the poppet’s stomach so she wouldn’t lose it. Abigail saw her do this and in her infinite wisdom decided to stab herself in the stomach. She tells everyone that Elizabeth Proctor used the doll to conduct her spirit in order to stab her. Elizabeth is arrested as Mary is too afraid of Abigail to actually tell the truth.    

In court, the girls turn on Mary and say that she is bewitching them and there’s lots of yelling. Proctor is furious and admits to his affair and calls Abigail a liar. However, our beautiful heroine and all-around good gal, Elizabeth, says that Proctor was never unfaithful to her in an attempt to save his name. Mary says that Proctor was the one consorting with the devil so our handsome hero and all-around good guy is arrested and, yes, now he is the liar. At this point Abigail steals all of Parris’ money and runs away before everyone can turn on her. Hale, the witch-catcher, also begins to see the error of his ways and starts praying with the people he put in jail and begs them to confess so they can be released.  

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is found to be with child so she is spared. She is sent to talk to her husband and convince him to confess. In a touching scene she forgives him and they renew their love. Proctor says he will sign the confession, but once he finds out it will be nailed to the church door and made a spectacle of he tears the paper to shreds. He then commences to scream “It’s my name!” for several lines. So, instead of chickening out and signing the paperwork Proctor decides to be hanged with the rest of the accused witches.

Report Card:   

The Crucible is an important play and Miller is essential to the American Canon, but it can be a bit difficult to get through. And even though it was slightly obnoxious, I probably wouldn’t remember as much about it if we hadn’t read it all together as a class way back when.

It is really interesting to see how power plays out in The Crucible. Those who seem to hold the most power in the town are those who are persecuted and those who one would think would be the weak and spineless of Salem are the ones who do the accusing and assume all the power. The accusations of witchcraft start with servants and those who have no say in the community, but soon people of influence and landowners are also accused.

Even though Miller has never denied the fiction of the play, his characters are based on the real people who were killed in the Salem witch trials. The play is also a critique of McCarthyism and the communist witch hunt.

I think the “witch hunt” motif is important in any era. We look at the Salem witch trials and the communist witch hunt as if it’s all in past and we are free to critique. But what about the terrorist witch hunts of our post-9/11 world?

As my main man Uncle Ben once said: “With great power comes great responsibility.” And the people of Salem simply weren’t responsible, so let’s learn from them. I give The Crucible a B+.