Post by rachaell02 on Nov 11, 2007 19:46:39 GMT -5
The Crucible has many relationships with the current world, today. One such relationship is the consensuses or governments use of terror to control the population. In Iraq Saddam Hussein used fear to control the people and keep his power. Much like Reverend Parris, Saddam was paranoid that he would lose authority over the people and ultimately lose power. To stay in the realm of control Saddam decided to set examples of people who spoke out against him. He killed his own people to instill fear into the citizens of Iraq. "Saddam is a dictator who is ready to sacrifice his country, just so long as he can remain on his throne in Baghdad."(BBC 1) The court of Salem used fear to control the community in that they threatened death upon those who would not confess or present names to the court. Both the government of Iraq and Salem were corrupt and sacrificed the common good to retain power.
Reverend Parris, one of the leaders in the court, is the individual who most resembles Saddam Hussein. Both individuals are influential leaders of factions in which the use of terror is observed, to manage the people. Both leaders want to stay in power and secure their supremacy. They both lead a tyrannical consensus that sacrifices moral standards in order to benefit themselves. Parris, well aware that he stood to gain financially, wanted his neighbors persecuted. Saddam, a corrupt leader, solely wanted to secure the power he had, and eliminate any possible threat to that power.
The regime of Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam, and the consensus in Salem targeted the opposition and eradicated any one who was a threat to the rule. In the case of Saddam he razed towns of the Shi’ia in the south when rebellion occurred and used chemical weapons on the Kurds in the North. The consensus of Salem imprisoned those accused of Witch craft and put those, who did not confess to that witchcraft, to death. These actions of the tyrannical groups provided and example for the rest of the societies as to what not to do. They instilled fear into the population creating conformity to the ideologies of the consensus.
A corrupt consensus controls with terror. Death is the punishment for refusing the beliefs of a tyrannical consensus. Although this is seen in the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, it is, unfortunately, happening at the present time. There are corrupt leaders all over the world such as in China, Africa and Cuba. These dictators kill their own people to keep power, they intimidate their citizens denying the basic human rights. America used the terror of the people to go to war with Saddam. They provided false intelligent, the evidence of weapons of mass destruction, to verify that Saddam was a vicious person who needed to be defeated. Although it was not the same use of terror and control, it was on some level the use of fear as a means of control.
Reverend Parris, one of the leaders in the court, is the individual who most resembles Saddam Hussein. Both individuals are influential leaders of factions in which the use of terror is observed, to manage the people. Both leaders want to stay in power and secure their supremacy. They both lead a tyrannical consensus that sacrifices moral standards in order to benefit themselves. Parris, well aware that he stood to gain financially, wanted his neighbors persecuted. Saddam, a corrupt leader, solely wanted to secure the power he had, and eliminate any possible threat to that power.
The regime of Iraq, under the dictatorship of Saddam, and the consensus in Salem targeted the opposition and eradicated any one who was a threat to the rule. In the case of Saddam he razed towns of the Shi’ia in the south when rebellion occurred and used chemical weapons on the Kurds in the North. The consensus of Salem imprisoned those accused of Witch craft and put those, who did not confess to that witchcraft, to death. These actions of the tyrannical groups provided and example for the rest of the societies as to what not to do. They instilled fear into the population creating conformity to the ideologies of the consensus.
A corrupt consensus controls with terror. Death is the punishment for refusing the beliefs of a tyrannical consensus. Although this is seen in the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, it is, unfortunately, happening at the present time. There are corrupt leaders all over the world such as in China, Africa and Cuba. These dictators kill their own people to keep power, they intimidate their citizens denying the basic human rights. America used the terror of the people to go to war with Saddam. They provided false intelligent, the evidence of weapons of mass destruction, to verify that Saddam was a vicious person who needed to be defeated. Although it was not the same use of terror and control, it was on some level the use of fear as a means of control.