The process of belonging is not always easy, and can sometimes challenge

individuals in certain ways. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today I will

discuss this idea of belonging in the play. “The Crucible “by Arthur Miller,

the short fiction “Through the tunnel “By Doris Lessing and the Short film

‘An Imaginary life directed by Steve Baker.

The Crucible

I’m sure you all agree that belonging to a society can be difficult when the

society is made up of complex rules and codes of behaviour which members

are expected to adhere to especially when an individual’s values oppose those

values of the authority.

In the ‘Crucible ‘John Proctor’s personal challenge was to defy the

community and not conforming to the laws of the theocratic church.

Although this was not easy, it has strengthened his sense of belonging and

defined his identity. Religious imagery was used to express Proctor’s

frustration of the fundamental flaws and corruption of the court. “And the

wind, God’s icy wind will blow!...You know in your black hearts that this be

fraud”.

In addition to this, Proctor also uses the metaphor of the hot fire to represent

the breaking down of pretence and the hypocrisies and cleansing of the evil in

the court. He says “We burn a hot fire here.”John Proctor hated the evils of

the court and hence challenged the authority. The process of defying the court

and going against his conscience and was a personal challenge for Proctor

and also his decision to keep his integrity instead of signing the confession.

Finding a sense of belonging was a challenge for Abigail Williams, she tried

to be accepted by John Proctor and belong to the society, and however it is

difficult for her to find a place in the world because of her young age and low

status. She realised that there are no acceptable way to achieve this so

attempts to pull John Proctor back into a relationship with her.

Animalistic imagery shows that Abigail presents herself as an object of

John’s desires and she uses language in a attempt to arouse Proctor to be

drawn to her again. “I know how you clutched my back behind your house

and sweated like a stallion whenever I came near !”Her actions demonstrated

the desperate measures that she took to achieve a sense of belonging that was

out of her reach.

For John Proctor, finding a sense of belonging in his marriage was another

personal challenge for him, his guilt of adultery was a burden and a barrier

between him and his wife, it has disconnected them emotionally. In Act 2, the

scene in Proctors house reveal the tension’s in their relationship and the

grudges that Elizabeth against John.

However later, she blames herself for John lechery.“I have sins of my own to

count. It needs a cold wife to prompt lechery”. When Elizabeth was called in

the court to testify, She had brought herself to lie to Danforth that Proctor is

not lecher in order to save her husband from social disgrace, and this was a

personal challenge for Elizabeth whom was incapable of lying.

At the end of the play, Elizabeth was able to forgive John and allowed him to

make his own decision whether to sign the confession or to die. The act of

forgiveness was a personal challenge for Elizabeth as she has to let go of her

resentments but her love for John was strong enough to make it happen.

Stage direction and lighting gives an indication that Elizabeth has overcome

the burdens of her marriage .

Elizabeth has saw the goodness in John after his decision to die as man of

integrity, Although it was a difficult decision for John to stand firmly for what

he believes is true and to challenge the community, he has proven himself as

worthy and good for Elizabeth, “Only be sure of this, for I know it now.

Whatever you will do, it is a good man does it”. Therefore through the

difficult processing of belonging, Proctor has progressed from shame to

renewed self-assurance and found a sense of belonging with Elizabeth and

spiritual belonging with God.

Through the Tunnel

As seen in the short fiction ‘Through the tunnel, Individuals like Jerry may

suffer from physical and emotional trauma in order to attain a sense of

belonging. The little boy holds his breathe under the water at an unfamiliar

beach to prove that he is worthy to belong the group of French boys.

Similarly the characters John Proctor, Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse in

‘The Crucible ‘are all outcast whom have been experienced physically and

emotional traumas in order to belonging. The descriptive imagery of Jerry’s

horrifying experience underwater highlights the pain that he underwent to

achieve his personal goal.

“At the end of what he could do…His head was swelling, his lungs

cracking…He felt he was dying. “At this point, the readers see a very

different Jerry emerge, we see a more mature and determined young man.We

begin to see Jerry’s efforts and the extent which he is willing to go to fit into

the boy’s group. Therefore, we understand that individuals like Jerry suffer

physically and emotionally in order to attain a sense of belonging

‘An Imaginary Life’

Similar to the Crucible, the short film “An Imaginary life” also explores the

idea of personal conflicts that individual’s experience that is associated with

the process of belonging. The protagonist in the short film was able to ignore

his conscience and let go of his relationship with Andrew the human boy, this

was a personal challenge for the protagonist. Montage combined with

flashbacks-gives a background to the protagonist’s connection with the little

boy at the start .

The snapshots of his memories of playing with the little boy Andrew shows

his contentment by his company. However as Andrew grew up, the

protagonist realised that he longer needs a playmate and accepted that fact

that he needed to move on with his life and let the little boy go. He says “He

lost interest, he moved on I suppose it has to be like that. “We see that in

order for one to belong, they must be able to ignore their conscience.

Similarly, We also see John Proctor acting against his own conscience, and

his own Christian beliefs when he faced Danforth and told lies about the

other people and denied seeing them with Devil. The protagonist’s faded

body in the photo with the little boy suggests that he has been forgotten and

neglected, In addition to this, the sign in the background illustrates the

protagonist’s loss of identity and shows how his existence is slowly fading

away.

He says that“We are trapped, waiting for a second chance.” Which suggest

his longing to be acknowledged by Andrew. For the protagonist, acting

against his conscience was not an easy thing to do, however through this

process he gained a sense of belonging to himself and it has overcome the

social barriers between him and his own kind and allowed him to establish

connections with them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social inclusion and acceptance is a fundamental human need

as it is essential to our well-being, however it is not always easy to achieve

and can be a challenge that involves inner conflicts and defiance of our

conscience in order for individuals to remain true to their sense of morality,

this idea is evident in the play ‘The Crucible’ by Arthur Miller and the short

film ‘Imaginary Life ‘directed by Steve Baker .

allieviate

Some of us may associate emotional or physical trauma with the process

of belonging which is explored in the short fiction ‘Through the Tunnel

‘by Doris Lessing From these three texts we understand in order to

belong we have to face personal challenges that we would not

experience otherwise. Thank you for listening.