Sylvia Grech
10-31-09
Critical Lens Essay
Quote: The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her conscience”–J.F.Clarke
J.F. Clarke once said, “The bravest of individuals is the one who obeys his or her
conscience.” I think that what Clarke meant is that people who listen to their heart,
people who do what they know or believe to be right, even if everyone else is or would
be against them for it, are the bravest people of all. I agree with this quote because it’s
usually hard to do the right thing, especially if one has no support. Two books that show
this are Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Lightning by Dean Koontz.
In The Crucible, this quote can be seen as true with the character of John Proctor.
The story starts with people being accused of committing witchcraft. Many of these
people are women. One of these women is Elizabeth Proctor who is John’s wife. She was
accused by Abigail Williams, their former servant and the girl with whom Proctor had an
affair. Abigail did this because she wanted to get rid of Elizabeth and be with John
Proctor. John went to court to try and free his wife. However at court, Proctor ended up
confessing his sin of lechery. Proctor had a high name in the village and was greatly
respected so the judge and others couldn’t believe it when he confessed. Confessing had
cost Proctor his pride. It left him feeling broken. Then, he is accused of being a witch by
Mary Warren. At the end of the story, Proctor is given a chance to save himself. By
saying that he is a witch and giving other names, he could have saved himself, even
though he would have to lie. By sticking to the truth and saying that he is not a witch, he
would hang. Proctor is a person with a lot of pride and couldn’t lie. He would rather
hang than tell a lie and live. For him, it is morally wrong. He says, that he can’t teach his
son to be men or give them a good example if he lies. Telling the truth was morally
correct and he stuck with it, even though it cost him to lose his pride and his life.
The setting in this story is also important and shows how Proctor is a brave
individual. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In this village, people are
expected to be holy, religious, etc. They’re supposed to follow God and the Ten
Commandments. However, the people are incredibly suspicious and mind each other’s
business as well as fear the devil. They’re supposed to rest on Sunday and go to church
and spend the rest of the day in prayer. John Proctor however goes against many of these
things. He does believe in God but because he wants to support his family, he works his
land on Sunday. Also no one would expect someone such as Proctor to commit lechery.
Such a sin wouldn’t be expected or tolerated at all from anyone but especially not from
Proctor. He seems to go against all that is expected of him. Also ironically, one of the
Ten Commandments is to not bear false witness against your neighbor. During the witch
trials, people accuse their neighbors of being witches. For all their strict religious beliefs,
most people don’t follow this. Proctor, however, for all the ways that he goes against the
ways of the village, does not name any of his neighbors as witches. He sticks to the truth.
The second book I chose to show that the bravest people are those that follows
their conscience is the book Lightning by Dean Koontz. The story takes place in Nazi,
Germany during WW II. Stefan is an S.S. agent and is personally trusted by Hitler.
However, he is tired of fighting and killing and of war. He feels it is wrong but he can’t
simply tell Hitler that he quits or that he thinks Hitler should stop the war. So he decides
to take matters into his own hands by setting up explosives to blow up the lab where he
works, which would kill the other agents as well as himself. Also, Stefan is the typical
Aryan-blond hair and blue eyes. This makes some of the agents jealous of him because
they do not have the same physical appearances. Therefore, they are jealous of him and
this makes his job a lot harder because he has enemies; people who would readily tell
Hitler about his plot if they found out. So he risks his own life to do what he thinks is
right and put a stop to Hitler’s plan. In fact, Stefan really puts his life on the line by going
to Winston Churchill and telling him what to do to stop Hitler.
Setting is also important because where Stefan works, everyone is supposed to be
loyal to Hitler. Because of his personal ties to Hitler, Stefan isn’t expected to betray
Hitler. Therefore it is harder for him to work against Hitler because if he gets caught, he
would pay with his life. Also, Stefan has a handful of enemies in the lab where he works
and some of them are also in positions of high power which makes it impossible for
Stefan to threaten them if they discovered his plot. This also means that he has to be extra
careful to make sure his plot is not discovered. Should anyone discover what his plot is,
they would either turn him in or kill him on the spot.
The characters of John Proctor and Stefan Krieger show that the bravest
individuals are those who follow their conscience. Proctor looses his soul and most of his
pride by confessing his sin. He then gives up his life but saves what’s left of his name by
holding on to the truth, a value that he considers very important. He also goes against the
village’s beliefs to do what is necessary for his family to live. Stefan is another brave
individual. He decides that fighting and killing are wrong and decides to go against his
leader and risk his life to stop him, even though so many enemies surround him.