English Essay Belonging is broken up into categories to shape its meaning. An individual may be perceived by various people as belonging or not belonging to a certain group, and this is influenced by the context of the given situation. This may be investigated through the Personal, Social and Cultural contexts of Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” and the film, directed by Brad Bird, “The Incredibles”. In Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible”, cultural contexts shape the perceptions of belonging and not belonging by using religion to divide the community.
In “The Crucible” Arthur Miller shows Salem to be a highly religious town, and throughout the play there is fear of individuality and free will. This fear leads to the exclusion of Salemites who cannot conform. The division of the town is laid out in Danforth’s statement “you are either with the court, or considered against us. There is no road in between”.
The metaphor of the ‘road’ divides the people of Salem based on their level of Puritanism.You must be a weekly church going Puritan, or you are not part of the religion and therefore the town. Religion is essentially the most powerful sense of belonging throughout the play; therefore how much you belong in Salem is based on how puritan you are. Through analysis of the Par family in “The Incredibles”, belonging through familial context is dependent on the health of individual family relationships. The relationship between Bob and his wife Helen is unstable at the beginning, involving a lot of deceit.Bob has been doing superhero work behind Helens back and when she finds out she tells Bob “Reliving the glory days is a very bad thing” belonging is deficient and is shown through no music on a bland, very dull picture structure then it is juxtaposed to a bright, colourful sunset and loud music in the background.
This shows that the belonging and relationship between Bob and Helen is boring and dull. The expectations and judgments of society impact whether an individual belongs or not. In order to belong in a society, criteria must be met and regularly followed; being an outcast is a result of failing to conform in society.In “The Crucible”, Parris, the town minister, is obsessed with his reputation, and believes that his only path to belonging is to make sure his status is not tarnished.
In Act 1, Parris questions Abigail’s reputation in the town, as he believes through Abigail’s bad reputation his own might be affected. He asks her “Your name in the town – it is entirely white, is it not? ” Parris is shown to be protecting his name throughout the play, thinking only of himself and what society thinks of him.Similarly, throughout “The Incredibles” Bob Par is seen to be controlled by society and limited in his capabilities. The expectations of society have limited Bob to acting like a normal human, and to belong he must abide by the criteria of society. However external factors, such as a threat on the city, change society’s view of superheroes throughout the film and through this context, Bob is able to rejoin the community.
Relationships between family and friends perceived through personal contexts shape the view of belonging and not belonging of the individuals involved.By examining the relationship between family members, the sense of acceptance experienced by each individual can be monitored and a better understanding of belonging will be achieved. Towards the beginning of “The Incredibles” Bob Par, a superhero forced into hiding, is dissatisfied with his life as a normal person. By changing the colour scheme to a “dull and boring” colour throughout his screen time, director Brad Bird is able to show Bob’s emotions through contrast with Helen Par’s “Bright and Cheery” colour scheme. A similar familial relationship is used in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” in regard to the Proctors.Throughout the play a sense of not belonging can be felt from their relationship, and John quotes “it’s winter in here yet” which is an extension on the metaphor Abigail used to describe Elizabeth.
However in Act 3 both Proctors attempt to save one another and give up their own personal beliefs in order to do so, which shows that the state of the relationship between family members justifies the sense of belonging experienced by the individual. Through contexts, perceptions of belonging and not belonging can be shaped and categorised into whether individuals belong through a given situation.This is shown throughout Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles” and Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” in the relationship between family members and how they shape belonging for an individual, how the judgements and expectations of society shape belonging for the individual and through cultural context and how it influences a community. Through the proof of these points, it is shown that certain perceptions of belonging and not belonging are shaped within contexts. Give me comments, and what you would have expected me to get.
thankyou
