Perceptions_on_Belonging_or_Not_Belonging_-_Prescribed_Text_the_Crucible_and_Related_Text_the_Drifters

Explore how perceptions of belonging or not belonging can be influenced by connections to a place(s). In your response, refer to your prescribed text and at least one related text of your own choice. Both The Crucible by Arthur miller and Drifters by Bruce Dawe are influenced by connections to a place with belonging and not belonging. A sense of belonging emerges from the connections made with people, places, groups or communities. Firstly, The Crucible is about belonging to a community. There are many characters who do and don’t belonging in the community of Salem. Belonging to a group empowers individuals. The girls of Salem acquire and abuse power because of their numbers. Abigail Williams is the leader of the circle of girls, although she does not belong to the Salem community because she is an orphan and finds she belongs and has power within the group of girls that follow her. Abigail doesn’t have a job as Elizabeth Proctor sacked her for the affair with John Proctor. The girls and Abigail were also found dancing in the woods as Abigail made Tituba, a slave, conjure spirits to put a spell on Elizabeth. Individuals who don’t belong to mainstream society of Salem are more vulnerable to be attacked than those who do. Tituba is attacked because she lives on the fringe of Salem society as she is not looked at as belonging and understanding the way of life of how the community lives. The people who challenge the authority of the Salem community where they belong often suffer consequences. It is more important for an individual to belong to a group that possesses integrity than it is to belong to a shameful majority. John Proctor refuses to sign a proclamation of guilt because he feels shame in condemn those he truly respects and in turn he suffers the ultimate consequence of death for mounting a protest against the authority of Salem. When John Proctor stands before the Salem court accused of witchcraft he is presented with a choice-either he can support the court and confess to the charge of witchcraft or he can rebel against the court and deny the charge. "You are either with this court or you must be counted against it" Proctor struggles to choose a plea because he has a good reputation in the community and if he confesses more people will believe in the witchcraft lie. Alternatively if he denies the charge he will be hung on the grounds that he has refused to denounce allegiance to Satan. After considerable anguish Proctor at first decides that his good reputation is not worth his life but when the court tries to pressure him into signing his name to a confession he refuses on the grounds that it will incriminate those he respects, who are willing to die. Thirdly, Drifters is about belonging to a place. The family finds it hard to belong to a particular place as they are constantly moving due to the fathers work. “It’s time to start packing” indicates that the father follows the work and the wife always feels unstable. The use of symbolism in this poem such as “the green and unripped tomatoes” is a used as an indicator of time, which shows how long the family have stayed in that place for. The change of the black berries shows the audience the stages of their movement from when they have first arrived at this house to the day when they are moving away. The Crucible explores the concept of belonging through connections to a place. This is mainly through the characters of Abigail Williams and John Proctor attempting to belong to the Salem community. In contrast, Drifters explore this connection of belonging to a place through a family who struggles to find a sense of belonging.