The Novel/Play: The Crucible

First off, The Cruicible is really good! I actually really enjoyed reading this book, but I thought that it was a more difficult book to read. The characters were a little confuising which I felt made this book challenging. In some parts of the story a character wouldn't be in the scene, but then they would quickly appear and play an important role in that scene. To me the theme of this story was the best part of the play. That sounds really boring, I know, but the author of this play made his purpose for writing obvious. He wanted to show his readers how crazy everyone was about seeking out regular Americans and trying to proove them guilty of being Russian spys.

*The Crucible* wasn't about Russian spies in America, but about accusing ordinary people of things, that they had no business with. In the end it seemed to me like the wrong people were found guilty. Abigail, the one character I did think was truly guilty of lying to the cosurt, was never penalized for her dishonesty. Instead Proctor and Elizabeth were put in severly punished for doing nothing wrong! But in the end justice was served to Abigail because she never ended up being successful in her life. Mary Warren also was accused of something that she was innocent for. To me, it seemed like she was only trying to please other people so, she was always introuble. She never did what she thought was right. The most obvious example of this was when John Proctor asked her to tell Judge Hathorne that Abigail and the other girls were lying.

One of the characters in this play that showed a strong character development in the end, was Elizabeth. At first she was very bitter towards her husband about being unfaithful with Abigail. By the end of the story she realized how short life is, and she completely forgives him. One thing, that I felt Arthur Miller wanted the reader to learn from this play was that it is never the best decision to just follow the crowd. Abigail and the other girls could make the people of the court room believe that they were under witch's control just because everyone else was. This book had many good lessons, and I enjoyed reading it! =)

The Redish Colored "A"

I wasn't a huge fan of the Scarlet Letter, but it did have a good plot. One of the points in this book that really stood out to me was the cultural differences of that time period. Obviously the characters in the Scarlet Letter were very religious, but it's strange to think that for committing adultery you could be humiliated publicly as a punishment. I really did not like the ending of this book because no one really wins except Pearl. Hester and her husband's marriage is ruined, John Wilson dies after confessing to his sin, and Hester's husband never gets revenge on Preacher Wilson. It took a lot of thought for me to realize the theme of this book, but I think it is that when you do something wrong, it doesn't do anyone any good to hide it. In the end you usually get caught, and in the end of this book, even though he doesn't get caught, Wilson doesn't get anything good out of lying.

One of the major symbols I noticed in this story was Pearl. Even though Hester loves her, she is a consequence for both Hester and Preacher Wilson. Hester treats her like it is her husband’s child. Another obvious symbolism in this book was the scarlet "A". Both Hester and Preacher Wilson had to wear one sewn onto their clothes. When Hester's husband discovers the Preacher's A, he knows that he was the baby of Hester's father. I think that hiding the "A" symbolizes how the Preacher hid his secret from the town.

One thing I found very interesting in this story was that Pearl would not acknowledge her Mother when she tries to remove the "A" from her dress. I think this shows that Pearl is trying to be an honest character, even when her parents are not. She proves that she can be a contributer to society when she moves to Europe with her mother, with Chillingworth's money. This was definitely not one of my favorite books, but it did have a good story line

The Great Gatsby

Well first off, I defenitley think this is the best book of the ones we have read so far. I really enjoyed the plot, and I think that the book was entertaining. One of the things, I saw that made this book a good read were the uses of symbolism. F. Scott Fitzgerald compares many ideas in the book which keeps the plot interesting. I think one of the most noticable symbols was the picture on the cover. To, me it seems that the face behind the city is really mysterious, like she is hiding something. Many characters in the book have secrets from the past or present, and this is what the cover symbolizes.

One of the characters in the book who is hiding something is Daisy. She has to keep her relationship with Gatsby a secret from her husband and even her own child! She has to lie to keep her secret, but I think in a way when Gatsby dies, Daisy and Tom become closer. The main character in the book, Gatsby, also has many secrets. He is trying to win Daisy back, and he has to keep his past a secret. His parties were a way of accomplishing both of these things. If everyone knows this nice rich man who likes to entertain people, why would they have a reason to suspect anything about him? But Gatsby's plan back fired, and many people began to suspect something was different about Gatsby.

There are a couple of themes in this story, but the one that really stuck out to me, was that everyone should get a second chance, but not everyone does. When Gatsby dies and his dad comes to visit him, his dad says "Jimmy was bound to get ahead." His dad knew that, and I think that Nick did too. Gatsby was one of those people who did not get a second chance. Daisy did not give it to him and neither did Wilson. Another theme I noticed was that money is not worthy of the place it gets in some people's lives. Fosr instance, Gatsby spent all of his life after he met Dan Cody trying to become wealthy. In the end this did not get him anything besides a big house.

Grapes of Wrath =(

Wow! This may be the most depressing book I've ever read, but I really liked it. Throughout the book, John Steinbeck is making the reader aware of the hardships and culture of this time. One of the main cultural differences I saw between our time and during the Dust Bowl, was how the families in this novel depended entirely on their farm to provide for them. When their farms can't support them and their crops won't grow they are lost. They don't have anything else to make a profit from, and it was almost impossible to find another job. I thought the best part of the story was how Tom Joad felt like he did not learn anything from his time in jail. I think in a way, this is ironic because going to jail is supposed to be a big eye-opener for a person.

I think that theme of the Grapes of Wrath, was that everyone goes through hard times, but when they are all over you have become a stronger person. I think the theme was represented throughout all of the characters in the book, but especially through Casy. He was an ex minister which I think made his struggles even harder for him to deal with. I noticed many uses of symbolism in the Grapes of Wrath. One of them was the turtle that Joad found to give to his family. I think the turtle represents how simple things in life can sometimes be the best things. Even though no one in the book had many good things happening in their lives, the simple things like seeing a turtle cheered them up.

I think this book, really showed how much we, as American citizens, have overcome. The characters in this book overcame so much. For me the most depressing part of the Grapes of Wrath was when Rose of Sharon gave birth to a dead baby boy. When Casy becomes the protestor’s leader, he is just trying to fight for himself. I think this was a courageous action, even though it ended in his death. When the Joad’s try to make a living or at least earn money by putting peaches into boxes, they are simply trying to stay alive. Overall this book had a good morale, and even though it was depressing I thought it was pretty good.