The House of Seven Gables

Salem, Massachusetts  holds hundreds of years of important history, it is the home of America's first millionaires, many wars were fought with big attributes from Salem, but it is most famous for the witchtrials.  The witchtrials changed not only the Puritan city of Salem, but all of America.  They also influenced many pieces of classic literature. 
     The House of Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a mystery of New England's oldest survivng mansion, and is set in Salem.  Nathaniel takes this house of seven gables and turns it into a place of dark, twisted, history, and incorporates the witchtrials into the plot.  In reality the house is not a place of horror, but it was once owned by Hawthorne's relative Susanna.  Hawthorne used to visit her and she'd tell him stories, this inspired him to write The House of Seven Gables.  Hawthorne does a great job, using setting in The House of Seven Gables, using this monumental place and a lot of historical content. 
      Today, the House of Seven Gables serves as a museum, much like Jane Addam's Hull House. Here, the youth can come and learn about the history of Salem and find many interesting artifacts.

The Moment I knew I was an American

Being born in America, I always knew that if I was to claim any nationality, it'd be American.  Saying that I am an American was easy, but the question was, what do I do that makes me so American?  At first, I had no answer, beyond the fact that I was born in America.  Then after I thought about it, there are many things that make me an American.  The most important, is that I was born and raised by the American culture.  I listen to American music, eat American food, go to American events, and I know a lot about my country.  Not only am I accustomed to the American ways of life, but I take pride in my country and I believe in America as a strong nation.  I see America as a growing country of diversity and in time I think that America's economy will strive and everyone can all work together in unison.  Since I have been an American my whole life, I understand that not everything in America is perfect and there are many things that need to be fixed before we can become the nation that our founding fathers dreamed about.  The moment that I knew that I was an American was when I wanted to help and make these things happen, and the dream come true.

Us Vs. Them

The human civilization has always looked to killing as the ultimate problem solver.  Man killing man has become a custom, whether its a punishment, a resolution, a sacrifice, or a service to a leader, god, or any other religious masters.   So when a human is killed, all problems are found right?  No, not right, the killing of someone else can be the end of the problem sometimes, but it's always the end of everything to do with that person. Death is final, and there is no going back after someone is killed, even if the killing was a mistake.
    The justice system uses the death system, killing those who commit very serious crimes.  If someone has done something that bad, death is an easy way out.  They should have to pay for what they did, in jail, not by being killed.
  Genocides are another example of killings, but unlike the death sentence, genocides aren't technically a punishment.  Sure it's a punishment on an entire group of people, not for committing crimes, but for simply being who they are, believing what they believe, looking how they look and seeing the world how they see it.  Adolf Hitler and many others saw a reason to attempt to wipe out an entire race/culture/group through his feeling of superiorness.  He felt that he was so important and superior to others that it was his job to decide who belonged on this world and who didn't.
   In the Crucible, the people of Salem choose to execute all people who seemed to be witches, because in the bible it states that those who are involved in witchcraft must be put to death.  Many people were hung during the trials, for "witchcraft", but when it all comes down to it, only the strong survived during these witch trials.  Whether someone was killed or not really depended on their social standing; who they had to support them, the connections, and liability.
     This concept of "Us vs. Them", humans killing other humans is ridiculous.  Why is death so common in our world?  I believe that most deaths are committed by those who believe they are better than others, but no one is better than anyone else, everyone is equal.  A world without killing?  would be a world of fear, not that it isn't already, but still, killing people makes the weak feel stronger than they are, it makes them feel empowered and without the thrill to kill they'd feel unsafe and powerless.

John Proctor. Hero or Stooge?

In the novel, The Crucible we have a ride variety of characters.  One, very interesting one is John Proctor.  When debating on whether John is a hero or a stooge, I must say that he is a hero.
    Yes, John did make a mistake by having an affair with Abigail, but everyone makes mistakes.  The definition of hero is not "one who makes no mistakes", if that were the case then there would be no heros in the world.  The actual definition of hero is debatable.  A hero can be one that inspires for some, or one that leads for others.  To me, a hero is a leader, a strong believer, and independent.  John is able to stand for what he believes in.  He sees Parris, and his materialistic ways for what they really are and he takes a stand.  I'm sure that everyone else sees how greedy Parris is with money too but they are all too afraid to speak up.  Proctor is not afraid of what other people think, and I admire him for that.  I'm sure that if he were to be given the chance he would take back his relations with Abigail, he would take it, and that he feels very sorry for what happened.  i can tell that Proctor really loves his family, and would do anything for them to be happy.  Proctor has many qualities of a hero including independence, self thinker, loving, and even remorseful, and I could never look to him as a stooge.