The Crucible David Lurie Quotes

From the very start of the book, we become aware of David Lurie’s need for sex. He explains all of his past sexual relationships: there pleasures and set backs. Once David is confronted about his affair with Melanie, he is left to decide where to take his life. He decides to visit his daughter, a country dweller, outside the town of Salem. While there, he is presented with several opportunities that could potentially transform him from a middle-aged rapist of young girls (or not if you as David) to something more positive and fulfilling. The first time we see David confronted with a way to grow out of old ways is when he goes to stay with his daughter in the country. He is used to living a lazy life where anything he could ever need was

He talked about his daughter in a respectful way but there was something about her that bothered him: her sexuality. He wondered if he would approve of her being with a man anymore that her being with a women but he doubted it. Furthermore, David doesn’t really like that his daughter is living in the country doing dirty work. He doesn’t like that she has dirt in her fingernails and gets down on the ground to work in the garden. He regards that work as peasant’s work and not something that his daughter should be doing. As the book progresses, we see a separation between David and his daughter. After the invasion, David wants his daughter to report her rape to the police but she objects, making David angry. He also encourages her to move away from the country to a safer place but he knows she won’t because “she is stubborn, and immersed, too, in the life she has chosen”. David decides it is best not to strain their relationship anymore than it already is so he drops his case and moves back to the

David is not fond of animals but he doesn’t have anything against Lucy’s animal loving friends since “the world would no doubt be a worse place without them”. David is not fond of animals and says it is “hard to whip up an interest in the subject” of animal welfare. He compares animal-welfare people to “Christians of a certain kind” saying “Everyone is so cheerful and well intentioned that after a while you itch to go off and do some raping and pillaging. Or to kick a cat”. Lucy backs up Bev by saying “This is the only life there is. Which we share with animals”. David comes back by saying “ We are of a different order of creation from the animals. Not higher, just different”. However the more time David spends at the Animal Welfare League, the more he starts to like