Compare and Contrast Essay: The Crucible vs.The Minister’s Black Veil

📌Category: Literature, Plays, The Crucible
📌Words: 648
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 26 January 2022

To many people, their popularity, acceptance, and survival are the most important things to them. In the play, The Crucible, by Miller, and the short story, The Minister’s Black Veil, by Hawthorn, this view is challenged by many important characters. In The Crucible, there is a witch hunt going on, where many of the residents are wrongly accused and convicted of witchcraft. On the other hand, The Minister’s Black Veil is about a minister who is outcast due to the veil he wears on his face. To some people, such as John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Mr. Hooper, morals and personal integrity and the most important things in their life, even over their own survival or acceptance. 

In the Crucible, characters are shown giving away their chance to live, just so they can keep their personal integrity. When John Proctor was confessing to witchcraft to save himself, he was forced to sign a paper for the town to see his confession, which caused him to repeal his confession and say, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies… How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”. John Proctor will not confess to witchcraft, because it will ruin his name. He believes that he cannot live with his reputation ruined. Personal integrity can be the most important thing to someone, and some people would rather die than lose their reputation. Another example of this is Giles Corey. When Giles was accused of witchcraft, he refused to plead guilty, and would rather die than have his reputation ruined in a trial, “So he stayed mute, and died Christian under the law. And so his sons will have his farm. It is the law, for he could not be condemned a wizard without he answer the indictment, aye or nay”. Giles Corey knew the trials did not mean anything, and he knew he would be convicted of witchcraft, just like everyone else. Giles died with his name and reputation intact. He valued dying over giving an attempt at saving his life through a trial or a confession.

In addition to valuing personal integrity over survival, in The Minister’s Black Veil, Mr. Hooper values his personal integrity over his popularity and acceptance. After just one day of wearing the black veil, Mr. Hooper is already being gossiped about by the entire town, “The next day, the whole village of Milford talked of little else than Parson Hooper’s black veil. That, and the mystery concealed behind it, supplied a topic for discussion”. Something as trivial as wearing a black veil, that would be seen as normal for a woman, becomes such a noteworthy change for Mr. Hooper. Even though everyone was gossiping about Mr. Hooper, he did not care, and he lost some of his acceptance in society to keep his morals, and did not bother to explain his choice to anyone. For the rest of his life, Mr. Hooper continues wearing the black veil, and while on his deathbed, he says, “Have men avoided me, and women shown no pity, and children screamed and fled, only for my black veil”. Mr. Hooper was aware that everyone was scared of him, but he wore the veil anyway. To Mr. Hooper, he didn’t care about his popularity or reputation, he was content with letting himself live a lonely life as an outcast, and he did it because he valued his personal integrity, wearing the black veil and only removing it before god, over everything else.

In today’s society, popularity is generally the most important thing to people. People will do anything to fit in with others, and always want to be accepted among others, even if it means sacrificing their morals and integrity. However, I believe that there are still many people who view personal integrity above survival and popularity, and people who act like this are heroes and people who stand up for what they believe in, like how John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Mr. Hooper valued their personal integrity above all else, losing their lives or acceptance for what they believe in.

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