What determines who is powerful and who is powerless in a society? Is the concept of power accessible to everyone or just certain individuals who possess incumbent resources? According to the Cambridge English dictionary, power is defined as the ability or right to control people and events, or to influence the way people act or think in important ways. Many people in modern society strive to reach an overall powerful status amongst others, for this is evident in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In certain instances, there are even different branches of the notion. For example, a teacher having control over a student is not equivalent to the control the United States government has over its citizens. Nevertheless, everyone has their own ideas of what power can do and how it affects a group of people, but what exactly determines who is powerless and who is not? The factors that determine power in modern society are authority, affluence, and fright. …show more content…
As a case in point, in the Crucible a character in power, Thomas Putnam manipulated the Salem Witch Trials in such a way that allowed him to gain more land. In another scene, Abigail breaks into her uncle’s lockbox and purloins his funds. Why do people crave money to the point of stealing it? Could it be that power is often associated with affluence? To put it in perspective, it certainly is not the people who are starving on the streets with no food to eat have power in society, in fact they are looked down on. Would they be what one would could consider powerless? Even well known leaders in the United States have sufficient funds. “American politicians spent a colossal $4 billion for this year's presidential and congressional races...big spenders tended to win” (USA Politics). In conclusion, money can easily affect the influence, status, and opportunities available when dealing with large groups of
Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for turning to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By blaming on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power through the Puritans restoring to involve him whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age; although the natural deciding factor of one’s power in the Puritan society is land, the Devil himself holds ultimate power. Despite the fact that he does not appear as a human figure, he controls the thoughts and actions of the Puritan society, serving as the ultimate threat.
Poor Behavior in “The Crucible” Ever wonder why people dies in The Crucible? The impact of Poor Behavior is exhibited throughout The Crucible. Most of the characters act badly.
In today 's world, the moral values of your culture are reflective of who has power over you. Power is the ability to control or influence someone 's behavior and actions directly. No matter your religious views or family reputation, power can be twisted and abused at your own discretion. In both The Kite Runner and Les Miserables, power is determined by ranking of social class and how you are viewed in that society.
Power in Salem flourished in 1962 at the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials. Power is the ability or right to control people, things, or outcomes. The way to have power is to capture it. In the Arthur Miller play, The Crucible, one person abused their power; while the other person was elevated in their social structure in order to save or end innocent people’s lives with her power within her knowledge. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams and Tituba express their power through the means of threats and actions, good or bad.
Back in the late sixteen hundreds the people during that time are very strict on religion. During the time a colony in the Americas called the puritans believed in witchcraft. People that are accused are guilty till proven innocent. In the Crucible it portrays injustice by how Danforth is not following court that is ruled by religion, Abigail intimidating the court, and the accused not having proper court rights. The following reasons will explain why the crucible is injustice.
But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Do you remember learning about the Holocaust in school? Do you remember all of the feelings and thoughts you had? Imagine if it was you. Imagine if you were one of the soldiers. Would you stand up for what was right?
In 1692 hundreds of people were sitting in jail for being witches, but none of them were really witches. An author named Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible based of the true events of the Salem witch trials. In the play some girls get in trouble for dancing in the woods. They claim the witches were making them do these bad things. The girls accused a lot of people and got a lot of people of hang for being witches.
The essential components of manipulation can range from many views of a person or an object. The main components of manipulation is the use of fear or information against a person or something. In the views of many, there is a fear, superstition, or any personal beliefs are key ways to twist the thoughts of someone or something. In The Crucible, Abigail was able to use the superstition and fear of witches against the town of Salem to manipulate them into turning against one another, faking that she was capable of scouting witches and their spirits, while she accused many so she will have a way to get rid Elizabeth while maintaining innocence. Abigail was a very strange girl but, her name was white as snow in the town of Salem, proving that she will still have a way to actually have no reason that anybody won’t believe her.
Power and influence in society have a huge impact on the way things happen and affects perception. A prime example is the power that presidents and prime ministers have. Given this power they can effectively influence and persuade others. Power and influence is often associated with gender, conflict and roles and relationships. The importance of the power and influence can be thoroughly examined using texts that demonstrate ideas presented as truths.
Hero: A person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities; however, heroism is not synonymous with perfection. Man can be a hero in spite of having some flaws. This is apparent in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a story about the Salem Witch Trials in which Abigail Williams accuses dozens of innocent people of witchcraft. Despite being flawed, John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Elizabeth Proctor can demonstrate their heroism in The Crucible. John Proctor is shown to be both a hero and a flawed man in regards to his lechery.
In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Power can be refer to as the ability to influence or change one’s opinion base on how an individual is being viewed by the human specie. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is simply about a girl, Scout, whose life is influenced both positively and negatively as a result of how society was created. In this book there is a side character, Mayella,; and because of her class and gender, she is powerless, but her race makes her powerful. With this in mind, powerless is a result of poverty, the reader can understand how Mayella’s class makes her powerless; she cannot not fit in due to her lack of money and her lack of hygiene and that makes everyone want to avoid her thus, makes her powerless. “Maycomb’s Ewells lived behind the town dump the town dump in what was once a Negro cabin….(Document
Power can be used effectively for the overall improvement of a society, but ultimate power has almost no limits and very nearly guarantees absolute
Power as conceptualized by critical theorists. Power is one of the words that holds great effect. It is defined by Webster (2015) as “the ability to control people or things; a person or organization that has a lot of control and influence over other people or organizations”. In general, a person or organization that holds power has authority over others. Thus, power is conceptualized in the organizational communication by critical theorists.
Power can be translated to the “ability to influence others” (Agunis, Pierce, & Simonsen, 1998, p. 456). Barack Obama has influenced millions in his lifetime by taking the power he desires to have, from being an attorney, moving up to Illinois State Senator, to becoming a US President for two terms. While he was a Senator in 2004 he was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention. In his Keynote Address, he expressed different bases of power as he spoke. The bases of power, as explained by Agunis, Pierce, and Simonsen, are reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, and expert.