Nature_of_Belonging

How does your core text and related text explore the nature of belonging to community' In the texts The Crucible and Milk we gain an understanding as to how characters and community’s react under the threat of non conformity through the use of hysteria and religion to justify morale corruption. In both texts we see how characters use their status in society to isolate others in the pursuit of gaining complete acceptance within the community. The comparison between the threats of homosexuality and witchcraft on American society highlights how a community’s façade of belonging is often revealed as mere complacency of the individual. Both texts not only explore the faults in community belonging but also how a community will fight progression in order to remain comfortable stable. As the respective societies of San Francisco and Salem respond to the threat of social change the use of religion becomes a tool of power to ostracise those who don’t belong. The characters of Anita Bryant and Reverend Parris use their high status and Christianity to preserve the fragile state of their respective communities. Bryant, a conservative politician attempts to “preserve the American family” from the “evil forces” which are presented by a group of homosexuals seeking civil rights through the election of Harvey Milk as a district supervisor. Through the use of television screen shots and interviews, she is portrayed as typical public sentiment of the time and the general fear of those who were different. Her fear of community change gives us insight to the insecurities which are constantly felt by those who belong to a community. By utilising the power of religion, she persuades the majority of the American community to shift their own moral values in order to assert her own prejudices. This inevitable tension within an evolving community is also evident in The Crucible where Reverend Parris feels constantly victimised by the Salem community and uses his divine right of authority to ostracise others. His relationship with Proctor displays his attempt to control the boundaries of how much an individual can belong to a community whilst asserting freewill. Faced with the church being undermined by the town, he uses religious threats such as “hell is burning” to control others in Salem. He also acts out of fear of his own position being threatened despite his place in the church. This fear is often conveyed through his tone as his becomes ‘aroused’ as Proctor accuses the content in his preaches. His defensive language “a minister is the Lord’s man…not to be so lightly contradicted” confirm his constant fear of being isolated from the community and motivates him throughout the play to conform and never be isolated from the general consensus. Both texts explore how an individual can never entirely belong to a progressive community without attempting to control how their community defines belonging. The high sacrifice of belonging to a community is explored through the conflict experienced by the protagonists of both texts and is accentuated by their tragic fate. Throughout Milk, flashbacks and snippets of a recorded journal are used by Milk to portray his own acceptance of his inevitable assassination. His willingness to seek acceptance and equity within the community often comes at a personal price as his private relationships deteriorate as a result to his commitment to politics and his desire to belong. Throughout the movie the opposition faced by Milk in the form of corrupt police, politicians and the hysterical general public creates a barrier surrounding the homophobic community of San Francisco. By creating a smaller, homosexual community within the area of The Castro; Milk is able to appeal to those who are accepted to change their firmly held stereotypes and prejudices. Accentuating his new found public acceptance a camera pans over his audience as Milk shouts “without hope, life is not worth living”, this asserts his belonging to his own beliefs and in doing so unrests the stability of the general public. However, ultimately Milk’s assassination by his opposition, Dan White reiterates how threats to a conformist community cannot be resolved without an abuse of power and position. The same fate is faced by Proctor as a result of his individuality being confronted by power driven community of Salem. Although originally led by guilt to belong to the community he soon realises that the cost of belonging to community can take away his individual moral beliefs and his relationship with the other accused townspeople. Choosing to rebel against the power of the court he challenges an authority which cannot be overcome due to the power in numbers which the community of Salem desperately relies on. This moral duty to his own conscious is shown as he realises “I have three children-how may I teach them to walk like men…and I am sold my friends'” and as he refuses to give “the lie they want”. This is effective in conveying the clear distinctions between the moral integrity which the community of Salem have sacrificed in order to belong. His preferences of having the knowledge of his own integrity is effective in changing how Hale views Salem’s situation and highlights the flaws in its society. This demonstrates how he finds an alternative sense of belonging rather than to community through his kept reputation. In doing so, as an audience we see how the community of Salem is merely a perception of power rather than social acceptance. The complex and harsh reality of belonging to a community is depicted through the actions undertaken by the characters in The Crucible and Milk in order to assert belonging. Despite the great difference in setting and historical background, the reactions of these characters are similar and therefore prove how instinctive it is for an individual to find belonging within a community. The abuse of power through religion and status is employed in both texts to outline how community unity can only be asserted by the manipulation of others to gain acceptance and support. The isolation which is experienced by these main characters proves how difficult it can be to find belonging in a true community.