Human Nature vs Personal Gain Essay Example for Free

Human Nature vs Personal Gain Essay Growing, learning and becoming the best we can be are all positive steps that evolve from life experience. It is human nature that wants to succeed and contribute to society in productive ways. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, individuals display an ugly side of human nature and are motivated by less than noble goals. Throughout the story, justice is often replaced by the desire for personal gain. Perhaps the three best reasons are greed, selfishness and betrayal. Greed is a motivating factor among many individuals in the play. At many times, John Proctor talks with Hale about Parris’s need to become rich, by gathering valuable golden candlesticks. He says, â€Å"He preach nothin’ but golden candlesticks, until he had them†¦ I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses† (Miller 65). Proctor says this to Parries to illustrate Parris’s materialistic nature and thirst for power, land and material possessions. Like Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam is also greedy. Thomas uses his daughter to falsely accuse George Jacob of witchcraft. The accusation leads to the arrest and conviction of George Jacob by Judge Danforth. Giles Corey’s explains to Danforth that Mr. Putnam is dishonest and says â€Å"If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property- that’s law! This man is killing his neighbors for their land† (Miller 96). Thomas Putnam uses these falsifying witchcraft trails to increase his own wealth by accusing people of dealing in witchcraft, getting them convicted and then taking advantage of the situation by buying up their property. Characters like Parris and Putnam are so obsessed with greed that they do not have a conscience. Just as the evils of greed occupy Parris and Putnam, Abigail Williams is motivated by selfishness. She is vengeful, manipulative and a magnificent liar; for example, she goes into the forest at night and practises witchcraft with the other girls form the village. However, when Abigail is confronted about her disgusting behaviour, she chooses to keep  her well respected reputation intact. Abigail denies that she was in the forest dancing that night, threatens the girls and says, â€Å"Now look you. All of you. We danced†¦ Let either of you breathe a word†¦ I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you† (Miller 20). She does this to also avoid being arrested. Not only does Abigail lie about witchcraft, she also stuffs the needle in the doll that Mary Warren made for Elizabeth. Cheever explains, â€Å"The girl, the Williams girl, Abigail Williams, sir. She sat to dinner in Reverend Parris’s house tonight†¦ she falls to the floor he goes to save her, and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out. And demandin’ of her how she come to be stabbed† (Miller 74). Abigail uses this situation to accuse Elizabeth of practising witchcraft to harm her Abigail. She does this to sabotage Elizabeth and, eventually, take her place as John Proctor’s wife. Abigail’s callousness with Elizabeth shows that her selfishness has no bounds or morals. If greed and selfish are not bad enough human characteristics, betrayal is perhaps the most cunning and provides the most false sense of security. Mary Warren accuses John Proctor of consorting with the devil and pressuring her to join him in his evil ways, which is not true. As Mary yells in anger, she says pointing at Proctor, â€Å"You’re the Devil’s man!† (Miller 118). She continues on to say â€Å"I’ll not hang with you! I love God, I love God† (118). Mary Warren’s loyalty to John Proctor is betrayed under pressure to save her own life rather than be hanged. Abigail betrays Tituba so that she does not get question by Reverend Hale. What Abigail says to Hale and Parris when she falsely accuses Tituba is â€Å"She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!† (Miller 44). Abigail does not want to confess her practise of witchcraft in the forest with her girls at night. While in the play there is no shortage of characters willing to do the wrong thing in life, choosing to do the right thing is always the preferred path in life. Having to replace any form of righteousness (justice) with greed, selfishness or betrayal does not justify our actions or means for the end result. Each one of the characters in the crucible mention in the above paragraph have all demonstrated that some form of human nature for self rewardance was place before justice/righteousness. There are always consequences when the truth is not told. Whenever we use these actions in our character they always lead us away in the opposite  direction from our true and honest goals. Righteousness in the heart produces beauty in the character. Works Cited Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Books, 1976. Print

Reoccurring Themes and Symbols in Different Works by Nathaniel Hawthorne :: The Minister’s Black Veil

It is no secret that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil† is a parable. Hawthorne intended it as such and even gave the story the subtitle â€Å"a parable.† â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† however, was not Hawthorne’s only parable. Hawthorne often used symbols and figurative language to give added meaning to the literal interpretations of his work. His Puritan ancestry also influenced much of Hawthorne’s work. Instead of agreeing with Puritanism however, Hawthorne would criticize it through the symbols and themes in his stories and parables. Several of these symbols and themes reoccur in Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, and The Scarlet Letter. One particularly noticeable theme in Hawthorne’s work is that of secret sin (Newman 338). In the â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, this theme is evident when young Mr. Brown dreams that he is led by the devil to a witching party. There he sees all of the honorable and pious members of society, including his minister and the woman who taught him his catechisms, communing with the prince of darkness. Upon awakening, the hypocritical nature of his once admired neighbors and the realization of his own secret sin causes him to become terribly disillusioned (Colacurcio 396). The same thing happens in â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil,† except the reader does not know exactly what secret sin makes Reverend Hooper begin to don the black veil. Many scholars believe that this has something to do with the funeral of the young lady at the beginning of the story. The opinions range from believing that Reverend Hooper loved the girl in secret, to Poe’s believe that Reverend Hooper may have actually been the cause of the girl’s death (Newman 204). Whatever the reason, the minister’s wearing of the veil taints his view of everyone else around him, making all of them look like they are wearing veils as well (Hawthorne 107). Dimmesdale’s secret sin with Hester Prynne is admitted at the end of the story, but the theme of secret sin is not as used as strongly in this novel as it was in Hawthorne’s stories (Dryden 147). However, two of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter are visible in both of the other stories. The first is the corruption of the clergy. In The Scarlet Letter, Reverend Dimmesdale is a good pastor.

Attitudes Towards Technology in the Han and Roman Empires

Attitudes Towards Technology in the Han and Roman Empires DBQ 2 Technology is always changing. New ideas are being introduced, and innovations to current technologies are always taking place. Some may see changes in technology as a vital and helpful thing, while others may oppose. Upperclassmen’s attitudes toward technology, especially advancements within technology, in the Han Empire, were very approving and encouraging. In the Roman Empire, the majority of upperclassmen’s attitudes toward technology were very supportive, as long as the technology or advancement was invented by someone of a highly philosophical mind.Roman upperclassmen in general had positive attitudes towards technology, as well as innovations in technology. Some higher classmen, however, looked highly upon themselves, and felt like anything not originating from their minds or hands was below them. Some philosophers had the attitude that anything they did not invent was only mediocre and sufficient, i nstead of excellent and great. (Doc. 7) Along with that, some upper class political leaders believed that it was vulgar and degrading of any man to be employed in any field of labor. Doc. 5) I placed these documents in a group together because of the fact that both of the authors of the documents had extremely opinionated outlooks on technology formed by lower classmen. Both authors stated in their documents that anything created by a lower classman was only mediocre in comparison to improvements in technology created by a higher classman like a philosopher. Therefore, their attitudes toward technology was positive†¦ as long as it was created by a man higher up in society.In Document 7, an upper-class Roman philosopher and adviser to Emperor Nero named Seneca expresses that any tools created by men who are not philosophers are mediocre and insignificant. His point of view is that he feels that the minds that did create the current technological advances in tools were nimble and sharp, but not great nor elevated. His attitude towards these breakthroughs in technology are this way because of his role in society. He is a philosopher, so it his is of his role to think with an abstract mind, imagining things from an â€Å"outside of the box† type of erspective. Because philosophers are trained to think this way, they would be able to create tools and new innovations in technology that could completely change how technology was viewed, leading their empires to greater and greater heights. But because of the lack of training and experience in abstract thought, he felt that normal men would tend to come up with good tools that were well built and could assist them in their day-to-day lives, but nothing groundbreaking that could have everyone captivated and amazed like â€Å"great and elevated minds† like his could invent.While some Roman upper class members liked only the technology invented and improved by elevated minds, that wasn’t the cas e for all of Rome. A Roman political leader named Gaius Gracchus set up a new system of road building, paying equal attention to the functionality and the appearance of the roads. He helped travelers keep track of distance by measuring out every mile and placing a column there. As well as the columns, Gracchus placed large stones on either sides of the road at lesser intervals, so it would be easier for those who road horses to mount them. (Doc. 6) Another brilliant advancement in technology was the aqueducts.Six of the aqueducts flowed into covered containers. Then, the volume was measured by means of calibrated scales. The use of the water was not only used for what was needed, but the water was also utilized for pleasure purposes. (Doc. 8) I grouped these two documents together since they both displayed advancements in technology without being discriminatory against those who were in lower classes. Because they both show the advancements in technology, it is evident that the atti tude toward technology was extremely positive. (Doc. 7) members of the Han Empire accepted and embraced new technologies.In fact, many government officials often implemented new ideas in their societies. For example, Tu Shih, who was the governor of Nanyang, invented a water-powered blowing-engine for the casting of iron agricultural implements that allowed people to enjoy great benefit for little labor. Not only has his invention been widely used, but it has also been adopted and innovated by those who use it. (Doc. 4) Fuxi, though only a mythological emperor, was said to have invented the pestle and the mortar. Throughout the years, his invention was cleverly improved in such a way that the ending benefit was increased a hundredfold. (Doc. ) There were times, as well, when government officials wrote to local officials describing exactly what needed to be done to assist in current problems. Though the government officials came up with such an in-depth plan and strategy, the local o fficials ultimately made the final call, tailoring the governmental plan to fit the individuality of each town. (Doc. 1) I grouped these documents together because they all involve a leader inventing something, with lower classmen innovating the invention. This proves that the Han Empire had a positive attitude about technology, and were still completely open to the aspects of change and advancements.In Document 3, an upper-class Han philosopher named Huan Tan expresses, with great enthusiasm, his point of view of the evolution of the pestle and the mortar throughout the years. In the document, it goes in depth describing all of the innovations and advancements the pestle and the mortar have gone through. This exemplifies the fact that Huan Tan’s attitude towards innovations in technology was devoutly positive. In Document 3, Huan Tan conveys the story of how Fuxi, who, though mythological, was an emperor, created something, which was improved by regular commoners.This shows that unlike the Roman philosopher in Document 7, Huan Tan shows no discrimination against the lower classes. He does not feel that in order for truly excellent work, you must have a philosopher title. He understands that ordinary people can be the most brilliant at times, and finds the entire concept of advancement in technology astounding. An additional document I feel would be beneficial in helping to convey my thesis would be a journal entry from the point of view of a Han Peasant, depicting their attitude towards the new advancements in technology.This is needed because every document we were given was written from the perspective of an upperclassmen. In order to more accurately answer the question, I feel like we should have an understanding of every socioeconomic class. I also think that in order to more efficiently analyze Document 2, we need a comparison with the journal entry from a Han Peasant. Because Document 2 talks about how individual family’s tools were better than the government-made ones were, I think that a journal entry explaining their thoughts on family-made tools versus the government-made tools would help give a better understanding of the document.

Women and Slavery Essay - 1459 Words

SLAVERY AND THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD The simple fact is that everybody has heard of the Underground Railroad, but not everyone knows just what it was. First of all, it wasn=t underground, and it wasn=t even a railroad. The term AUnderground Railroad,@ actually refers to a path along which escaping slaves were passed from farmhouse to storage sheds, from cellars to barns, until they reached safety in the North. One of the most widely known abolitionists in history is a slave by the name of Harriet Tubman. She is best known as the conductor of the Underground Railroad and risked her life to help free nearly 300 slaves. The primary importance of the Underground Railroad was the ongoing fight to abolish slavery, the start of the Civil War,†¦show more content†¦For the most part, the people of the area tended to be more genteel and seemed not quite adjusted to hard work, but more of giving orders. The idea of telling people what to do and how to do it, just seemed to fit all to well into this scenario. The Railroad did not have a certain location as I mentioned above. Since the 1500s slaves had been running on their own. When the idea caught on among the brave slaves, was when it began to take form. Slave owners in the South certainly weren=t happy about the loss of their Aproperty.@ As a result to the slaves rebelling much money was lost as well as slaves. As a result of this, the South passed the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. This law gave the federal judges the right to decide, without a jury, whether someone accused of being a fugitive should be returned to the person who claimed to be his or her master. The North was upset about the treatment of the slaves and was not happy about owners being allowed to come into their states to take the slaves back. Finally, the North decided to do something about it. To get revenge on the south, they would take away the South=s riches. They would help the slaves escape to freedom. The slaves were now angry, scared, and confused. Hearing of thi s Underground Railroad, they slowly began to escape more and more. By 1807, a law was passed that made it illegal to import anymore slaves. Agricultural improvements came along, and withShow MoreRelatedWomen and Slavery1817 Words   |  8 PagesGender and Slavery in America Deborah Gray White’s â€Å"Ar’n’t I a Woman?† attempts to illustrate and expose the under-examined world in which bonded, antebellum women lived. She distinguishes the way slave women were treated from both their male counterparts and white antebellum women by elucidating their unique race and gender predisposed circumstances, â€Å"(†¦) black women suffer a double oppression: that shared by all African-Americans and that shared by most women† (p. 23). 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