Individual human experiences are fundamentally modulated by the values and morals of the collective, prompting personal reflection of the paradoxes within human nature and our understanding of acceptance. Miller’s The Crucible (1953) demands that we recognize the necessity of allowing individuals to establish their personal beliefs and values without having others inflicted on them. The tragedy encourages its audience to empathize with all the judged and convicted. It explores individual and collective experiences in an isolated setting, provoking the audience to reconsider their understanding of acceptance more broadly. Tarantino’s unique, scene-shifting style in Pulp Fiction (1994); puts the narrative in a non-chronological order which amplifies the audience’s emotional response to the story, heightening empathy with the comic-book archetypes and it is through these characters that Tarantino invites us to question our own choices and acceptance of change. Tarantino’s glorification and humanization of despicable characters evokes sympathy with them and cause the audience to question how shared beliefs determine human behavior, emotions, and motivations.
In The Crucible, Miller employs irony to contrast the overarching meaning of something that is said and the underlying connotations. Miller’s use of irony opens our eyes to humankind’s tendency towards being swept up into prevailing beliefs and dogma. The drama demands empathy with Proctor and Elizabeth and all the judged and condemned; asking us to reconsider our understanding of the fate of an individual in a collective mindset. Miller’s heavy use of irony emphasizes the imposition placed upon the individual’s values and morals. “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone”. These supposed “marks” of the Devil are far from “definite as stone” and the only evidence to support these accusations of witchcraft are the skewed experiences of the “afflicted” and their spectral evidence. Here we are forced to re-evaluate our understanding of acceptance of an individual amongst the collective who are caught in the hysteria and the prevailing belief that the devil has conjured its spirits in Salem and consider how logic is abandoned in order to honor the collective’s views or in this case the accusations.
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The Crucible revolves around judgment; the opposite of acceptance. The characters all take on the roles of the judges and the judges as the hysteria builds. In this concentrated, isolated setting of Salem, no other religious points of view are shown or mentioned even though the Puritans are a minority among English colonists. The only other belief system presented is the slave Tituba's African spiritual traditions. They and all other beliefs outside of Puritanism are considered the work of the Devil, witchcraft, and sins by worshippers of Satan conspiring against God and the town. This isolation causes arguments to boil and fights erupt frequently within the community. These escalate rapidly into accusations of witchcraft. All the activities and attitudes of the people of Salem are exacerbated by the isolation of the town. Miller highlights how individual experiences are molded by the isolation they are present in. These collective and individual experiences in Salem put the paradoxes in human nature under the microscope and invite us to re-evaluate our perception of acceptance in this condensed, hyper-sensitive setting.
In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino toys with the audience’s perceptions of the characters to prompt them to reflect upon how an individual can weigh and assess the value and meaning of things, as well as how value is determined by the collective. Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction critiques the objective framework of value through the iconographic pop characters who do not think for themselves; rather choosing to place emphasis on the discourse on language, specifically, how our language no longer points to anything beyond itself. To declare something as good or bad means it so. This is characterized by Jules’ use of the bible verse Ezekiel 25:17 which he references before killing people. However, Jules reduces it to just “some cold-blooded shit to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass”. The passage itself refers to a system of values and meaning by which an individual “shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness” and “strike down upon thee with great vengeance,” referencing the ability to influence one’s life and make moral decisions. However, Jules’s ability to look beyond the impartial meaning is absent from his life and so the passage becomes meaningless to him.
Later in the film, we see a significant change in Jules, and through this change, he finally deconstructs the true value the passage holds. In Jules’ transformation, he reflects upon what is missing in his life. It compels him to consider the Biblical passage that he’s been quoting for years without giving much thought to it. Jules begins to understand that the passage he quotes refers to an objective framework of morals and significance that is absent from his life. Jules’ amendment is illuminated through the contrast presented by Vince, in whom we see no change and who instead reverts to the binary mindset that once held down Jules. Tarantino does this to provoke his audience to consider themselves and how our values may be corrupted by the collective. Tarantino highlights Jules’ transformation as an individual experience to prompt his audience to consider how an individual’s perceptions of value are guided by the collective. He also questions his audience’s acceptance or rejection of change, which is showcased through Jule's transformation from a one-dimensional sheep to an independent and thoughtful person.
Conclusion
Arthur Miller’s allegorical play, The Crucible exposes the complicated link between collective ideologies and individual human experiences. The play explores the susceptibility of the truth to be molded and its capacity for authority to determine truth and lies, right and wrong, logical and illogical. Miller renders our understanding of individual experiences through his use of irony and the isolation Salem presents to illuminate his statement about the fate of an individual in a collective mindset, provoking his audience to reconsider how logic and reason are abandoned in order to honor the collective’s views, disregarding the individual. In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino elucidates the acceptance or dismissal of change by pitting two contrasting characters together and their opposing reactions to change, prompting the audience to rethink how binary thinking may be obstructing change and individuality. It is only when we step out of the predictable formula of pulp fiction that we see how blindly we accept collective views through the juxtaposition of the empty and ‘real’ characters, as well as the collective’s ability to snuff out individual values and perceptions.
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