ipl-logo

Ethos Pathos Logos In The Crucible

857 Words4 Pages

From the time in which justice and order was enforced by governing figures, man has struggled with the conflict of balancing freedom and protection. Often times, those who seek answers to the disorderly find solace within religious beliefs; they find protection and answers to questions of security, where an omnipotent being took reign and watched over one’s life. However, when applied to governing forces, these laws based off religious beliefs regulating certain actions and desires restrict freedom. In The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller argue that conscience should supersede religion. Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter uses pathos to enforce this claim; whereas Arthur Miller argues the same claim using logos in his book The Crucible. Personally, the author 's claims are agreeable in that individual …show more content…

To begin, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes pathos throughout his writing to imprint the importance of individual conscience into the reader 's mind. Hawthorne begins the book by having the reader pity the main character, Hester Prynne, as she is a young, husbandless, mother in a society that shames her for her unfortunate circumstances: “haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon” (Hawthorne, 53). The consistent misfortune of Prynne evokes emotion in the reader and stresses the weight of her decisions. Prynne manages her way through such a hostile society -“Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly on your bosom” (Hawthorne, 188)- in a way that is metaphorically applicable to the real world, allowing the reader to truly connect and understand the character for who they are. This connection adheres with the reader, whether it be conscious or not, and affects their day to day life, changing how readers view situations given to them ranging in

Show More
Related
881 Words | 4 Pages

The rhetorical analysis of the court document “Kinkel vs The State of Oregon”. The document was written to explain the arguments of both sides of the court and to justify the decision made by the court and the judge through facts and rhetorical accounts of events that transpired. The judge clearly uses Ethos, Logos, and Pathos within the analysis which is used to his advantage. There are many audiences involved in the court and trial. There is the defendants and the victim’s family members present.

Read More
1418 Words | 6 Pages

Let the Emotions Spill In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess “That outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions.” In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is a character who outwardly conforms while question inwardly. Prynne is humiliated and is publicly shamed by wearing the scarlet letter upon her bosom for seven years by everyone.

Read More
315 Words | 2 Pages

Hawthorne uses many forms of rhetoric to portray his characters, but relies heavily on pathos in the instance of Hester Prynne. She’s a member of an inherently misogynistic society, and because she’s a woman, her every act is scrutinized. As punishment for her act of adultery, Hester is ordered to adorn her chest with a permanent scarlet letter. Although the audience is well aware of the atrocity of the sin she’s committed, Hawthorne’s writing sparks a feeling of empathy within the reader. Throughout the novel, the reader is exposed to several clear uses of pathos.

Read More
139 Words | 1 Pages

“A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall,”Aristotle. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, the main protagonist of the play faces several situations in which he struggles both internally and externally; all of the struggles that Proctor encounters throughout the story heavily affect those around him, but most importantly they impact the way that he perceives Salem and his own life. Truthfully, the troubles that Proctor experiences in life are the most impactful occurrences in The Crucible because they reflect the righteousness that is within him, even in times of corruption; it is ultimately Proctor’s ability to discover righteousness that allows him to be seen as an tragic hero. It can also be said

Read More
927 Words | 4 Pages

As the crowd watches, Hester Prynn, holding an infant, walks down from the prison door and makes her way to the scaffold, where she is to be publicly condemned. Both The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible were intended to teach and instruct through didactic texts. The authors conveyed this through bringing attention to specific details and the decisions of the characters in their writing. Three lessons that were included in both the play and the novel were the overcoming of the stereotypes and bias of characters in The Scarlet Letter, the corruption of not only the ones who govern, but also susceptible to even the common citizens in The Crucible, and the perspective of faith and morality of the characters in the story who determine good versus evil through irony. First in The Scarlet Letter, we were taught by Hawthorne about overcoming the initial stereotypes and biases of specific characters in the novel including himself.

Read More
1415 Words | 6 Pages

A Role Model that Transcends Time Hester Prynne changed dramatically throughout the course of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. Initially she was viewed as the antagonist and was a destructive character to those around her. After being confined in her cottage with Pearl, she began to develop a sense of who she needed to become in order to efficiently raise Pearl. Hester’s ability to do what was necessary for her improvement made her into a respectable role model for women to shadow. Hester chose to isolate she and Pearl to create a wave of self-improvement. Because of Hester’s mysterious, seductive, and rebellious actions, she demonstrated the characteristics of a byronic hero.

Read More
1411 Words | 6 Pages

Abel Corral Ms. Hasebroock AP English Period D 18 September 2014 How Is Rhetoric Used, and Why? “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” Those are the words of a classical Greek philosopher and mathematician by the name of Plato. Rhetoric is in our everyday lives, rhetoric is used in our conversations, rhetoric is used in our speeches, rhetoric is used in debates, and even visual signs. Rhetoric is everywhere we go, whatever we read, and whatever we see.

Read More
635 Words | 3 Pages

Praising Heroic Hester Mark Van Doren’s Critical essay “Hester Prynne” explains how his portrayal of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter addresses Hawthorne’s opinion and view of Hester. Van Doren’s “Hester Prynne” article explains how Hawthorne praises Hester in his novel. Van Doren goes in depth and uses literary devices to explain his point of Hawthorne’s reference to Hester. Mark Van Doren uses mythological allusion, worthy tone, and selectional diction.

Read More
941 Words | 4 Pages

We are all sinners, no matter how hard we try to hide our faults, they always seem to come back, one way or another. Written in the 19th century, Nathaniel Hawthorne shows us Hester Prynne and how one sin can change her life completely. Hester Prynne changes a great deal throughout The Scarlet Letter. Through the view of the Puritans, Hester is an intense sinner; she has gone against the Puritan way of life committing the highest act of sin, adultery. For committing such a sinful act, Hester must wear the scarlet letter while also having to bear stares from those that gossip about her.

Read More
800 Words | 4 Pages

Religions have a hand in completely blinding communities. In fact, some communities have completely changed their morals, to better accommodate to that of their chosen religious belief. As such, these communities have trouble in differentiating between being reasonable, and of, being unreasonable. Bringing this farther into confrontation is that of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Through that of his characters, Miller expresses ignorance, and of how, it can make a group go against rational thinking, thus, eventually causing the death, and or pain, of others as a result.

Read More
1100 Words | 5 Pages

A man of conscience is one who is aware of his moral and ethical beliefs and judgments and one who will prefer right over wrong. The life of such man is ruled by the desire to seek the truth and justice in all that surrounds him, including himself. These attributes are seen in both character, John Proctor from Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible”, set in Salem in the early seventeenth century and in Atticus Finch from Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” set in New York in 1950. In the play “The Crucible” set in the town of Salem which is burdened by the belief of witches, we are introduced to the main character John Proctor.

Read More
796 Words | 4 Pages

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Hester Prynne is a Romantic Hero. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, we see Hester Prynne’s struggle in Colonial America after she is condemned by the Puritan society. She is sent to America by her husband, but he never returns, and Hester later conceives a child with the local minister. She is convicted with the crime of adultery, but refuses to identify the father, she is then forced to wear the Scarlet Letter. The novel captures her experience as she struggles to survive the guilt, sin, and revenge.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Scarlet Letter” he depicts it as an oppressive 17th – century Puritan society. “The style of Puritanism that Hawthorne presents is drab and gloomy, preoccupied with judgment and punishment, unrelenting and dogmatic,”1 writes Deborah L. Madsen in her book, “American Exceptionalism.” Hester Prynne, the main character accused of adultery, is persecuted by Boston community. Not only adults despise her, but also children who, blinded by the decayed values and norms, humiliate her and her child, Pearl. The character of Hester symbolizes the fight against Puritan enslavement, the need to modernize the prevailing norms that cause nothing but harm to American society.

Read More
800 Words | 4 Pages

Hawthorne designed Hester as a strong character with decorous manners in order to bestow an example of how women should be seen and accepted. The novel empowers women in various yet peculiar ways. What is most remarkable about Hester Prynne is her strength of character. Readers are introduced to Hester on the scaffold with Pearl in her arms, beginning her punishment.

Read More
936 Words | 4 Pages

The hypocritical society is blinded by how they should punish Hester that they are not showing kindness to Hester. Hawthorne creates the book to show how an individual spirit must overcome the difficult obstacles in the society cultural

Read More

More about Ethos Pathos Logos In The Crucible

Related Topics

Open Document