November 11th -- I can't WAIT to start The Crucible with my American Lit students. With this Penn State situation and even the Cain drama, there is no lack of modern day witch hunts going on to connect to the play which was based on both the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy Communist hearings. Based on all of the information I am reading however, it seems like the modern day witch hunts are merited. Paterno and his cronies deserve to be emasculated for their ignorance and stupidity and testosterone filled arrogance. Cain deserves to be outed as a liar and a power monger who preyed on innocent victims/women.
But as I write those words...I am thinking about The Crucible and the lives those lying girls destroyed -- literally -- during the Salem witch hunt trials. It's weird. When do we go crazy and clean house, and when are we going overboard? (Of course there is the million dollar question: who is lying????!) I would say that religion and politics shows the answer...the black and white laws of Puritanism created a hotbed of controversy. There was such a rigid set of laws, with all of man's human imperfections, it was impossible to abide by all of the Puritan standards and come out clean. But what we have today -- complete religious freedom and religious interpretation combined with the proliferation of abusive power mongers -- isn't creating such a great, morally upright world either, is it? It's going from one extreme to the other.
Something to think about anyway. In the meantime, I am PUMPED about having so much modern day drama to connect to Arthur Miller's infamous play. Amazing. The kids are going to have a field day, I know. Woo hoo, bring it on!
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