Belonging + 2 Related Text's
- Submitted by: jademartin1997
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- Category: English
- Date Submitted: 08/04/2014 12:00 AM
- Pages: 5
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AOS-Belonging
Perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by connections to a community and the values associated to it, particularly in relation to belonging to self and the intolerance of ones individuality. This can be seen in Arthur Millers play The Crucible; where John Proctor is a character whose moral ideologies are symbolic of individuality and non- conformity in a theocratic, puritan society. It is also achieved in Pan’s Labyrinth, a Spanish movie by Guillermo Del Toro, where Ophelia, a young girl struggles to find her sense of self amidst a totalitarian dictatorship. Hester Prynne, an atypical heroine in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, portrays this idea through her refusal to allow the pejorative nature of the puritan society indict adultery, and thus be disregarded and alienated. She is adamant on her refusal to let this sense of detachment, control and irradiate her individuality and sense of belonging.
It is apparent in The Crucible, that a sense of dislocation is formed in a community when a corrupt political kinship overrules individuality. This is reinforced by the intolerant nature of Salem society. Miller effectively elucidates this idea through Danforth and his sense of identity, especially through his dissent when commenting on belonging to the church: “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between.” Miller uses a metaphor of the road to symbolise the different paths that can be taken in life. In this case, there is an underlying assumption where “you will prove [your soul’s] whiteness or you cannot live in a Christian country.” Thus, portraying a sense of dislocation in the community, due to the intolerant, liturgous community resistant of individuality.
The Scarlet Letter depicts Hester Prynne; a heroine living in a puritan society where liturgy is taken very serious. Hester is convicted with adultery, and is socially alienated, physically labelled with an...
Perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be influenced by connections to a community and the values associated to it, particularly in relation to belonging to self and the intolerance of ones individuality. This can be seen in Arthur Millers play The Crucible; where John Proctor is a character whose moral ideologies are symbolic of individuality and non- conformity in a theocratic, puritan society. It is also achieved in Pan’s Labyrinth, a Spanish movie by Guillermo Del Toro, where Ophelia, a young girl struggles to find her sense of self amidst a totalitarian dictatorship. Hester Prynne, an atypical heroine in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, portrays this idea through her refusal to allow the pejorative nature of the puritan society indict adultery, and thus be disregarded and alienated. She is adamant on her refusal to let this sense of detachment, control and irradiate her individuality and sense of belonging.
It is apparent in The Crucible, that a sense of dislocation is formed in a community when a corrupt political kinship overrules individuality. This is reinforced by the intolerant nature of Salem society. Miller effectively elucidates this idea through Danforth and his sense of identity, especially through his dissent when commenting on belonging to the church: “a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between.” Miller uses a metaphor of the road to symbolise the different paths that can be taken in life. In this case, there is an underlying assumption where “you will prove [your soul’s] whiteness or you cannot live in a Christian country.” Thus, portraying a sense of dislocation in the community, due to the intolerant, liturgous community resistant of individuality.
The Scarlet Letter depicts Hester Prynne; a heroine living in a puritan society where liturgy is taken very serious. Hester is convicted with adultery, and is socially alienated, physically labelled with an...