Puritan

            It is often surprising to realize the uncanny similarities in the creative writings of seemingly opposite cultures. In "The Crucible,, by Arthur Miller, the characters are indulged in their Puritan lifestyle, behaviors and thinking patterns. Yet their struggles are curiously similar to concerns and difficulties evidenced in our own popular culture. Songwriter Billy Joel explores fear, hatred and the ease with which some people go along with the crowd in his song, "An Innocent Man". In the early lines of the piece, Billy Joel writes: "If there's a chance of it opening up, they hear a voice in the hall outside, and hope that it just passes by." This is sort of a metaphor for Parris in," The Crucible" and how he blinks when something goes wrong, hoping it will just go away. Further along in an Innocent Man", Joel sings, "Some people find that it's easier to hate, than to wait anymore." The apparent tendency to hate and fear is a common theme in the Salem Puritan society of "The Crucible". Lastly, Billy Joel writes, "Some people hope for a miracle cure, some people just accept the world as the way it is, but I"m not willing to lay down and die." This part of the song reminds me of the Republican and Democratic parties and how we voted for the republicans to fight back against the terrorists in the Middle East.
             The second part of the first verse is a metaphor for Parris and how he just hopes that his problems will go away. In the beginning of the play Parris finds his daughter and niece along with many other girls from the town in the woods dancing around a crock-pot. He tries to look past it and believe that it never happened. Parris does this with many situations in the book. When he finds out that Abigail was fried from the Proctor house. Parris tries to believe that it never happened so that he can go on with his priestly duties. Then after his daughter goes into a trance to disprove the town's thoughts of witchcraft he called for reverend Hale.