Draft1: Comparative Essay

Darkness engulfs society as personal aspirations, and manipulation leaves their mark upon society. John Connolly and Arthur Miller in their respective works have incorporated manipulation to emphasize the presence of evil as both stories unfold. Personal aspirations and manipulation have led to society’s bombardment of evil as protagonists are left with a last stand against evil. Most importantly, all writers who have spent a number of months on a novel or play can admit to the importance of character development.

Mischief, otherwise known as the Crooked Man in the Book of Lost Things represents the main antagonist as Abigail Williams has in the Crucible. The Crooked Man is known as the manipulator of mankind as he had cost the lives of many throughout the course of his life. The Crooked Man is a person that uses manipulation toward his advantage, throughout the entire course of the story in order to get David (protagonist) to give up his brother’s name. By giving up his brother’s name The Crooked Man can live the lifespan of the young child. This process of manipulation takes place in such a way that David starts to build hatred toward his brother. The Crooked man, whose actions are all intent on the benefit of him, goes on all fours in his attempts to corrupt David. If compared closely, the Devil (Lucifer) can be compared to Crooked Man, as the devil is always looking to ensnare mankind from righteous paths. No matter how hard mankind fights against the inner devil, the devil persists to torture mankind both mentally and physically. This torture is felt by David in the Book of Lost Things, as David falls apart due to hysteria, life lessons along the way help him strengthen his clout on the Crooked Man who eventually dies.

Abigail Williams is a person of self aspiration as all her ill actions are intent on regaining Mr. Proctor for herself. “I want to open myself! . . . I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” Abigail spent the first act worrying desperately about the possibility of being disgraced for having cast charms with her friends in the forest. Tituba's confession, however, offers an example of a way out, and Abigail takes it. She confesses to associate with the Devil, which, according to the beliefs of Salem, means that she is redeemed and free from guilt. Then, as the next step in clearing herself of sin, she accuses others of being witches, thus shifting the burden of shame from her shoulders to those she names. These show prime intentions of evil as manipulation has once again started to bring mass hysteria upon society; with these accusations even the innocent is punished. Seeing Abigail's success, the other girls follow suit, and with this pattern of hysterical, self-serving accusations, the witch trials get started. All this corruption and hysteria were because of her lust for John Proctor for whom she had once worked; this lust eventually results in her black magic in order to kill his wife Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail Williams’s clout upon society subsequent to her confession was determined to make everyone in the village pay for bad mouthing her of Adultery although it was the truth, as revealed in the following quote. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men! And now you bid me tear the light out of my eyes? I will not, I cannot! You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet!”

As the darkness had grown immense, light at the end of the tunnel had helped David break through and eventually over throw evil. It takes the good to have character; having character simply means that you are honorable and honest, have integrity and are reliable and responsible. Most importantly it means that you are courageous and determined to finish what had been started by oneself and this is the side of the spectrum where David falls. Unlike Jonathan Tulvey who had seemed to lack this character, which eventually led to his downfall and corruption. Ever since David’s entrance into the new world his challenge had been to develop character, and throughout his journey David discovers the inner beauty that is within him. The unique character that David had discovered within him, helped him overcome the mental and physical temptations of the Crooked Man. “Do not judge a book by its cover,” is a common quote that everyone has heard throughout their lives, however, the Crooked Man had not understood the meaning behind this quote. Upon David’s initial arrival, the Crooked Man was convinced that his intentions would succeed; however, the Crooked Man soon realizes that it was a grave mistake and as a result loses his life.

John Proctor is the protagonist in the Crucible’s tragedy. Proctor is a good man, but one with a secret, a lethal flaw. The only light to the tragedy relies on Proctor’s statement, but that statement comes with a price as it will ruin his name; Proctor is a proud man who pays great emphasis to his reputation. By the time Proctor finally realizes that he must reveal the secret, it had been too late, and matters have gone too far and not even the truth can spear open the truth from the frenzy that Abigail had whipped up. Proctor’s immense pride and fear of public opinion compelled him to withhold his adultery from the court, but by the end of the play he is more concerned with his personal integrity than his public reputation. Proctor still wants to save his name, but for personal and religious, rather than public, reasons. Proctor's refusal to provide a false confession is a true religious and personal stand. This personal stand is the final stand against evil, as Abigail prevails and all good is lost in the trials. Society only realizes this truth once Abigail flees in the final scene, absconding with the money of Parris. Proctors presence was the only light in the play, which was immersed in darkness, and with Proctor’s tragic last stand gone astray, society had fallen to the hands of evil and the play ends a tragedy.

"Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree."(Abraham Lincoln) Personal aspirations and manipulation are two powerful characteristics of individuals that lead to corruption. As both stories have unfolded the audience is able to realize the differences between good and evil as major events unravel the truth behind personal aspiration and manipulation. These two characteristics corrupt society although one novel overcomes this corruption, another has fallen prey.

Good vs. Evil: How does film deal with these questions?

Film deals with these questions in quite a similar way when compared to literature; the main difference is that instead of reading, the audience gets a visual. Those who read books know clearly that the concepts of good and evil are represented in a similar fashion on the big screen, however, the downfall to film is the lack of content. Most importantly the creativity aspect of literature is diminished greatly as films have visuals of the environment, settings, and characters. Therefore giving the audience more of a perspective of how the writer/director intended the story to be portrayed.

For an example in the Harry Potter books the readers have more of an imagination involved in creating the looks of characters, settings, and environments. This option of imagination is deprived when a movie version is made; however, the movie tends to give more of an idea of how the director/writers wanted the story to be portrayed. This is because there are visuals for the viewer to better understand the concepts of good and evil, but it does lack the content of detailed descriptions as the books usually contain.

In movies the concepts of good and evil are mostly portrayed as universal because the questions of good and evil are consistent between those who view the film. Even though the opinions of viewers cannot be changed by movie writers, they still try to avoid subjective content within the movie. As in books the good characters are those who usually try to save the day, although not all actions are done with a pure heart. For an example in some movies the good character saves the day, however, causes significant harm to society in the process. Although the intent may be to just save the person, the action taken may have not been the best option.

Overall, film deals with these questions in almost the same way as literature does, like I mentioned before the main difference is the aspect of visuals vs. imaginations.

Good vs. Evil: How does literature deal with these questions?

Good vs. Evil is a very common theme in literature and there are many different types of story plots and almost all of the time there is the existence of “good” and “evil.” The conflicts of good and evil are usually considered a universal aspect to human nature and are also one of the most common themes in literature. Although in real life the concepts of good and evil are universal, the same cannot be said in literature as the concept becomes mainly subjective.

Not all readers have the same opinion on which characters are good and evil, there is still somewhat of a universal belief in what is good and evil. This universal belief comes from moral values and guidelines that were learnt from childhood. Basically, good and evil is shown through the characters; however, it is shown in more depth based on certain events that show the nature of the character. Usually in literature the subjects of good and evil are more detailed and the readers usually have their own ways of depicting these concepts based on their beliefs of good and evil. These concepts are usually displayed in literature by describing the actions of characters and the events that occur after those actions.

Overall literature deals with the questions of good and evil in a variety of ways, and each reader usually has a different perception of these concepts.

Good vs. Evil: How do various religions/philosophies deal with these questions?

“Good” and “evil” are considered very vague; however, religion and philosophy are very influential towards people’s beliefs on what is “good” and “evil.” The concepts of good and evil are different to everyone and there are numerous definitions for them.

Many people know what is considered good and evil based on moral values, religion and society. Although there are many different types of religions, the concepts of good and evil remain constant throughout many of them, however, it does vary upon how people look at certain aspects of these questions. When people look at religions the concepts are defined based on holy text such as the 10 commandments, although religions may have different names for these books, the message remains constant. The main difference between these holy texts’ are the wording, in most text good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell. Religion is used as a guideline in most places to differentiate between good and evil.

Philosophy is opinions with an extent of evidence to prove the points, and is quite effective in showing the differences between the concepts of good and evil. The basic messages and ideas from philosophies are universal and often relate to religion in certain ways. The theories of philosophy are used to deal with these questions as they still are looked upon in certain situations to differentiate between good and evil.

In the end major religions and philosophies deal with questions of good and evil in the same way.

Good vs. Evil:Can evil characters engender sympathy?

Yes evil characters can endanger sympathy because many acts done by evil characters aren’t always in the intentions of hurting people, however, they do engender sympathy. As seen in many books that the average audience reads because a character that may seem like a good person may end up evil, as a result of certain circumstances. In situations such as these the evil character also endangers sympathy.

For example throughout the Harry Potter series Professor Snape seems like he’s on Lord Voldemort’s side throughout the entire series until the seventh and final book. Professor Snape was once a part of Lord Voldemort’s squad of villains, however, his love for Harry’s mother (Lily Evans) has him supporting and saving Harry throughout the course of the books. Whereas to readers Snape is seen as an evil character who is trying to cause harm to Harry Potter, but turns out that he was and is helping Harry in his quest against Voldemort. This was only revealed after his death and engenders quite a significant amount of sympathy toward Snape. Although this example may be opposite to what I had mentioned above it still shows how a character that is evil can engender sympathy because their actions were an illusion to the true evil and all that he had done was with good intentions.

Another example in the same series is in the 4th book: Goblet of Fire where Professor Mad-Eye-Moodie is looked onto as a “good” character throughout the novel. However, all his intents were on hurting Harry and giving Voldemort a chance at revenge. This is revealed close to the end of the book where Mad-Eye-Moodie was a fake and wasn’t the real deal, in fact he was a death eater (Lord Voldemort’s squad of villains). This engenders sympathy toward the professor because of his foolishness to disguise as someone who was truly a “good” person.

Good vs. Evil: Can good characters engender Judgment?

A good character can engender judgment because their actions may be acts of evil that may have not been intentional, however, provoked by an external force. Not only that good characters can also engender judgment by disguises throughout the novel showing them as a “good” character, when they are truly “evil.” No one is completely immune to the bad seed that everyone has within them and in novels it is a matter of time before it is revealed through certain actions.

For example in the movie the Game Plan, starring “The Rock” shows how good characters can engender judgment. In the movie Joe Kingman is a star football player who believes in only himself, and wants to prove to the world that he is number 1. However, certain circumstances result in him having to take care of Peyton his daughter. As a result he finds out how much of a headache it is to take care of children, in the beginning he is seen as a bad father as he leaves his daughter in a night club alone. This would draw judgment from viewers that he isn’t a responsible father If you fast-forward towards the end of the movie you realize that Kingman finally learns how to take care of a child; however, at that point she is taken away from him and as the final game of the playoff approaches Joe’s Game Plan is shattered. Realizing her mistake his daughter rushes to the game after a half had already passed to find her father injured, however, she motivates him to get back in the game and they end up winning. This movie is an excellent example how good characters engender judgment; the actions of Joe Kingman early in the movie had showed him as irresponsible and selfish athlete, however, towards the end of the movie he is seen as an excellent father and athlete.

As I had mentioned earlier no one is completely immune to the bad seed within themselves, however, the little good deeds that are done along the path make a huge difference. It is this bad seed within characters that causes the audience to engender judgment.

Good vs. Evil: Are there clearly defined roles?

According to me, I feel there are no clearly defined roles for “good” and “evil” characters because there are always twists to stories a person who may seem as a good person may after all be evil towards the climax. Although in fairy tales it is quite easy to find the difference between the protagonist and the antagonist, however, the same cannot be said of most stories. For an example if in a story a character creates trouble, however in the end he may have done everything as a plot to hurt the protagonist.

In most cases the “good” character is usually the one who is caring, loving, kind-hearted, persistent, etc. The protagonist often represents the good and has to go through several hardships throughout the story, but in the end they’re the ones who usually prevail over the antagonist. The protagonist is usually liked by most of the characters throughout the story and is constantly looked as a savior for the rest of society. Whereas the antagonist is portrayed as cunning, evil, scary, etc, the readers usually expect the antagonist to be overcome by the protagonist near the end of the novel. Throughout the early parts of a novel the antagonist seems to have the upper hand and is usually represented as a horrible person because of their deeds. However, as I mentioned before these situations between “good” and “evil” occur usually in fairy tales and in some stories they are hidden from the audience until the climax.

As the stories of the books vary, authors tend to twist stories in order to make the protagonist seem evil and the antagonist good. The judgement of these characters usually comes down to the reader’s perspective. Just because a person does some evil deeds it doesn’t necessarily make them evil and the same can’t be said about people who take part in good deeds. This is because everyone has a little bit of good or evil within them and no character can truly be judged as evil or good. A character that may seem good to you may not be looked at in the same way by a classmate. Therefore a character can’t necessarily be judged as evil or good based on their actions and there is no real way of deciding the roles of good or evil character.