Dr John McLoughlin essays

Dr John McLoughlin essays John McLoughlin was one of the most influential figures of the fur trade and settlement periods of Pacific Northwest history. Chief Factor of the Columbia District of the British Hudson's Bay Company, he reigned as a benevolent autocrat, befriended Americans, and eventually became an American citizen at Oregon City. He was born in Quebec in 1784 and trained as a physician near Montreal. He became a physician and traveled to the Northwest region in 1824 as a representative of the Hudson Bay Company. Here he occupied the position of Chief Factor from 1825, when the regional headquarters of the company was moved from old Fort Astoria to Fort Vancouver, until his retirement in 1845. During his reign as Chief Factor, Dr. John McLoughlin directed the operations of the fur trade in all the country west of the Rocky Mountains and north of the California line, as well as the more localized activities of agriculture, livestock raising, sawmilling, flour milling, dairying, and salmon fishing. From 1825 to 1843, when the provisional government was first established by the settlers in the Willamette Valley, he was the undisputed governor of the vast area bounded by the Rocky Mountains on the east, Mexican territory (California) on the south, the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Dr. John McLoughlin exercised control over the Indians of the region, welcomed and provisioned missionaries and settlers, encouraged schools and church instruction and for a number of years was the only medical practitioner in the region. His contributions to the development of the Northwest region in general and the Oregon country in particular make him truly deserving of the title by which he is often referred to, Father of the Oregon In 1857, the man who had ruled an empire two and a half times the size of Texas, died broken and bitter. He was 75 at the time. Five years later, in an act o ...

UNIT 6 Discussion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

UNIT 6 Discussion - Research Paper Example Legalization of Marijuana would have a positive outcome on society. To imagine a United States where marijuana was legal, it is imperative to study the impact of its controlled legalization in the Netherlands. Their policy on soft drugs tolerance has seen a drop in criminal activity and the transfer of marijuana small amounts (Timothy & Goldfinger p2).heroin addiction rates in the Netherlands have gone down by 0.14%, while the crime rate has been falling consistently, coinciding with the relaxation of these laws. While there are obviously differences between the Netherlands and the US, it is clear that the forecasts of social disaster should Marijuana be legalized are misplaced. If legalization of marijuana would mean that hard drug and alcohol usage decreased, then the net outcome would be welcome since the effects of Marijuana on the user and society is less than that of the former two (Timothy & Goldfinger p2). The claim that there would be an increase in Marijuana usage should it be legalized is true to a point. It could, however, be explained by an increase in users willing to admit to marijuana use. Government estimates showing 11.8 million users in the US is conservative, with NORML estimating that close to 50 million users live in the US (Timothy & Goldfinger p2). Therefore, any initial jump can be explained. After legalization, a discouragement campaign could be set up akin to that against tobacco. Age limits for use and purchase would be set up, which is only possible on legalization since illegal dealers will not ask for I.D. In conclusion, the concern should not be on Marijuana, but on tobacco and alcohol. Both have more addictive and deadly indicators. The message obviously is not about concern for society, nor for the user’s health. Rather, it is hypocritical, unintelligible, and biased

Holocaust Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Holocaust - Essay Example Much of this was caused by the fact that stakeholders within early European society believed that people of Jewish decent still bore a direct level of responsibility for the crucifixion and death of Christ. Such a level of innate and cultural distrust and even hatred ultimately coalesced with the economic and political pressures that Germany faced after the First World War and gave rise to the Nazi Party; a harbinger to the holocaust. 2. For the most part the film appeared to be rather unbiased. However, it must be stated that no attempt was made to understand the situation from the perspective of the German citizen or the German soldier. Naturally, the film-maker probably glossed over this due to the fact that seeking to understand the issue from such a perspective was deemed as merely trying to understand evil; something that they did not want to waste valuable time on. Yet, even though this may be true, it would have provided a further level of credibility to the film if the film- maker(s) had allowed for an alternative approach and a view of the situation through the eyes of those who were responsible for carrying it out. Even if such a view might have been unpleasant, it was necessary in order to understand the dynamics for why such inhumanity can persist and why a broad based public outcry for it to stop was never realized or witnessed. Moreover, even though the film is useful in understanding the plight of the individual caught up in the horrors of the holocaust, too much of an emotional appeal also detracts from the merit of objectivity that could otherwise be represented. Naturally, it is not fair to disregard the horrors that the individual faced during the ethnic cleansing of Jews within Europe; however, too much of a focus upon the individual loses sight of the mechanisms, causation, and realities for why this was being carried out and what forces encouraged it. 3. How does this film contribute to our knowledge of the Nazi Holocaust? Ultimately, the film contributes to an understanding of the Holocaust in the sense that it allows the viewer to come to a more informed understanding of the way in which the Holocaust not only Germany’s Jews but Jewish populations throughout the remainder of occupied Europe. This is an important understanding to gain due to the fact that a misconception with regards to the overall scope of the Holocaust is one of the most common misconceptions that exists. Whereas it is true that the Germans were responsible for murdering unknown tens of thousands of Jews within Germany itself, the bulk of the Holocaust victims were derived not within Germany’s borders; rather, these were derived from areas of heavy Jewish concentration within Eastern Europe – specifically Poland and Ukraine (Cowen 167). In helping the viewer to come to a further understanding of the scope of the Holocaust and the personal ramifications that it had upon the lives, experience, and future of the individuals that were fortunate enough to survive it, the viewer is led to a more informed understanding with respect to the many different ways in which this particular occurrence impacted upon the future of not only Europe but the rest of the world. 4. Ultimately, Suedfeld posits a litany of different reasons for why the Holocaust actually took place. The first of these theories he

Market Success and Entry Strategy Research Paper

Market Success and Entry Strategy - Research Paper Example The first and foremost step is the analysis of the market size and demand. The market according to the various segments are divided and categorized. For example, for an automobile market, the division of the market can be as according to the taste, demand and preference of the consumers. The consumers in one group of consumers are different from the other group and each represents a separate entity. The characteristics or the dimensions on which a market size is determined are geographic, cultural, social, economic and psychological factors. The market potential of a new consumer product is tested. The acceptance level of the product would decide the money that product will make in the market. There are various factors, which affect segmentation in a consumer market. Geographic is one such factor, where a country is segmented on basis region, city, urban, rural and climate. Demographically market is segmented on the basis of age, family size, gender, household income, life stage, occ upation, education, religion, race, generation and social class. Further, segmentation can be done on the basis of lifestyle and personality traits. On an individual level market can be segmented on the basis of attitude, belief and perception of products, product awareness and usage pattern. Market success analysis In any country the buying or the purchasing power is depends mostly on the infrastructure, currency, quality of the product and employment level. In mostly all agricultural based society, the production of a commodity, information to other available resources is very less. The resources like the labors, professionals or the working class has a major impact on the success of any foreign company in any country. In India the distribution of labor forces is unequal. Most of the professionals reside in the urban areas. Hangout Plaza is a fast food chain of restaurant. It offers mostly burgers, chicken pizzas, which will not be accepted by the rural population. In India, the c ost of labor is low. In order for the company to be able to market their product smoothly they should employ the local population. The skilled, unskilled labors can be deployed to gain the confidence of the locals and to get the work done at a cheaper rate. The regulations and the duties imposed by the government also play a major part in shaping the business of a company in the international market. The Government's red tape policies are often a hindrance for any foreign company. In India, the government is quite liberal in allowing the foreign companies to enter. India has many U.S. base hotels which are operating since a long time (FAO, 1997).    The political, economic and social factor poses a serious problem risk for any new company in the global market. For Hangout Plaza, there are many competition threats from many other fast food chains of hotels. Since there is no clear-cut strategy to decide and ascertain which strategy can be useful for assessing the competition threat s, the need to understand and calculate the same becomes more tedious and tough.  Ã‚  

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Example for Free

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay The following essay will explore the character of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The idea of Dorian’s deteriorating morality will be emphasized in this essay and the juxtaposition of the character’s picture and his physical appearance will be a main component in the development of thesis of this essay. The theme of morality will be a major issue in this paper as it is through morality that Dorian has drastically declined into his stygian state. Oscar Wilde presents the reader with a very modern day novel, both in theme, place setting, and character development. The reader is introduced to Dorian Gray through Basil Hallward; the two characters are the crux of the novel’s actions. In fact the two characters, Basil and Dorian, although equally enthralled with each other at the start of the novel, become increasingly distance as the novel progresses and as Dorian finds himself in moral turpitude through the tutelage of Lord Henry Wotton Lord Henry looked at him. Yes, he was certainly wonderfully handsome, with his finely-curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair. There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth’s passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world. No wonder Basil Hallward worshipped him (Chapter Two). In the first exchange between Dorian and Lord Henry, the theme of the novel, that of youth and its disappearance, brings Dorian to curse his portrait because it will only be a reminder of how beautiful and young he once was, and with this curse it is revealed to the reader how important the aspect of youth is to Dorian whose sole belief in himself rests with this characteristic. Within the theme of youth is the ultimate curse of Dorian, for it is within this context that he becomes a doomed ‘hero’ and therefore loses his love, his life, and in the end of the story, his youth. Thus, the item which he once treasured becomes his downfall. It is with this curse that is Dorian’s lamenting of the portraits everlasting youth, that Dorian offers his soul in exchange for the portraits youth to be transferred to him while the portrait bears the brutality of Dorian’s life. In a type of Faustian decline, Lord Henry introduces Dorian into a very debilitating lifestyle in which Dorian becomes absolutely enthralled. This new lifestyle is full of carnal pleasures and Dorian dives into it headfirst, exercising no judgment only the thrill of the moment, without regret, remorse, or reason at times (Baker 1969). Although this may be considered to be Lord Henry’s influence, Dorian embraces this lifestyle with fervor. It is Dorian’s choice how he lives, and even though it may be considered to have been a type of brainwashing, Dorian latches onto the ideals presented by Lord Henry in that first conversation in Basil’s house. In fact, the reason that Basil had admired Dorian, at least according to Dorian, is because of his youth and beauty. Thus, Basil in the act of painting Dorian reiterates this theme. The support for this thesis runs consistent for most of the interactions among the characters in the novel. In one of the first examples the reader discovers of Dorian’s changing portrait is when Dorian falls in love with an actress by the name of Sibyl Vane. However, the plight of these two lovers is that Dorian falls in love with Sibyl because of her acting abilities; the twist is that since Sibyl has fallen in love with Dorian she no longer believes she can pretend to be in love on stage and thus quits her acting career (Wikipedia). After this event, Dorian rejects Sibyl and breaks off their engagement, â€Å"He flung himself down on the sofa, and turned away his face. â€Å"You have killed my love,† he muttered. † (Chapter Seven). This is when the audience and Dorian see the first changes in Dorian’s picture; his picture, once full of youth, beauty and a hopeful innocence, now sneers. This is the first sign of decline and it is not seen on Dorian’s picture perfect face but instead is relayed to the audience through the portraits physiognomy (Brown p. 264). After this realization that Dorian’s curse has come true, Dorian seeks to make retributions with his moral fortitude and to make amends with Sibyl. Despite this last ditch effort, or even of the one chance Dorian has in the course of the novel to make reprimands, Lord Henry tells Dorian that Sibyl has killed herself and that he, Dorian, should take the suicide as a type of artistic triumph. Thus, Dorian is urged to live without regret or worse, with no remorse for his actions and involvement in the young girl’s death Yet it was watching him, with its beautiful marred face and its cruel smile. Its bright hair gleamed in the early sunlight. Its blue eyes met his own. A sense of infinite pity, not for himself, but for the painted image of himself, came over him. It had altered already, and would alter more. Its gold would wither into grey. Its red and white roses would die. For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck its fairness. But he would not sin. The picture, changed or unchanged, would be to him the visible emblem of conscience. He would resist temptation. He would not see Lord Henry any more—(End of Chapter Seven). From this point in the novel and onwards, there can be no rescue of Dorian since this is taken to be the crossroads of the story. If Dorian cannot succumb to change his carnal lifestyle at the suicide, which he aided in, of his love, then there seems to be no hope for the young man and the rest of the course of the plot is full of Dorian’s revolting moral character and the constant influence of Lord Henry, and the gentle if somewhat absent depictions of Dorian as seen through Basil’s eyes. The story is very much like Faust because it is at the climax of the carnal lifestyle and its full meaning that Dorian has a change of heart and repents, but it is not until after Dorian has had his carnal lifestyle that this penance is shown. Dorian is conscious of his changing moral character and in this light, he seeks to hide his portrait in an upper room of his house where only he may see the changing and aberrant images transforming Dorian’s physiognomy. The catch in the novel however is that in the eighteen years of Dorian’s interaction with London society on a debasing character, the elite of society continual to accept him, despite his moral character because Dorian remains young and beautiful. While the fight between Lord Henry and Basil has occurred in the early stages of the novel, and it is obvious that Lord Henry has won, Basil nevertheless goes to Dorian’s house to confront Dorian about his flagging reputation in London society. While at Dorian’s house however, Dorian decides to show Basil his portrait of Dorian, and thus, the artist is confronted with how Dorian’s soul has been distorted through almost two decades of immoral living. Basil however is not put off by this effrontery and still begs Dorian to change his ways. The reader however knows that the time for change would have been with Sibyl, and if Dorian cannot change his character after her suicide, then all hope is lost. Basil still persists, and in a fit of rage, against himself, and for Basil having witnessed the truth of Dorian’s soul, Dorian stabs Basil to death The mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him, and he loathed the man who was seated at the table, more than in his whole life he had ever loathed anything. He glanced wildly around. Something glimmered on the top of the painted chest that faced him. His eye fell on it. He knew what it was. It was a knife that he had brought up, some days before, to cut a piece of cord, and had forgotten to take away with him. He moved slowly towards it, passing Hallward as he did so. As soon as he got behind him, he seized it, and turned round. Hallward stirred in his chair as if he was going to rise. He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man’s head down on the table, and stabbing again and again (Chapter 13). Dorian’s goal in life now is to escape from guilt, which is a difficult task because only the guilty party has the ultimate power to induce remorse. After being confronted by Sibyl’s brother James Vane, and after James’ accidental death at a hunting party Dorian wishes to change his life. Dorian does not know how to repent his since without a complete confession of them and so fear causes him to be stagnant in his decision. In Dorian’s decision to confess his crimes, and yet not able to be plucky enough to do it, his portrait now reflects his intents to be hypocrisy. In this new vein of the story, Dorian, in yet another classic fit of rage, revenge, or helplessness, Dorian picks up the same knife he used to kill Basil and attacks his self-portrait. The story then goes to the third person narrative and the servants hear a loud crash and go to find out what the noise was, and when they open the door, the servants and the readers find that the portrait has been restored to its formal beauty and youth and that Dorian lies an old, disfigured man on the floor with a knife plunged into his heart. Thus, with Dorian’s final act of repentance, he is able to change that which he had cursed and traded his soul for in the beginning of Wilde’s story (Lawler Knott p. 390). This, as mentioned prior is the Faust aspect of the story, the change of heart of the protagonist after having fulfilled his pleasure and had his share of dark fun. Dorian’s character then consists of a youth who is innocence, then persuaded by Lord Henry to live only for pleasure, then after murdering Basil, and seeing his love’s brother killed, and after staring at the state of his soul in the portrait Dorian changes. It is this last that has the full affect on him; Dorian, faced with his true image, and the hate, jealousy, snide nature that has become him, becomes overwhelmed with truth and cannot believe the state of it, and thus, must cover up this last bit of evidence; he must kill himself. With this final act, the reader is faced with the ambiguous finding of whether or not through his actions Dorian was able to change what he had created through eighteen years of carnal pleasure seeking with his one act of retribution; stabbing his own self, after finally recognizing the evil that he had become. Is this guild-ridden remorse for fear of eternal damnation? No, it is in fact Dorian finally confronting his sins and paying the ultimate price for them by his own hand; and thus is his morality reversed in the act of the stabbing and the recognition of the symbolism of it through the human Dorian and the portrait changing their appearances. This proves that Wilde wrote this story in order for a degradation morality to have a chance of change, even at the last moment and failings of life. Dorian had thought himself beguiled by Basil’s own forceful praise of youth and then his introduction to Lord Henry who confirmed youth was the greatest prize; however, by the end of the story, Dorian has changed his morality into thinking that he is indeed responsible for his own actions through the course of his life and that with this responsibility and his owning of the action of stabbing himself, Dorian becomes purified and thus takes his true form. Work Cited Baker, H. A. Jr. A Tragedy of the Artist: The Picture of Dorian Gray. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Dec. , 1969), pp. 349-355. Brown, R. D. Suetonius, Symonds, and Gibbon in The Picture of Dorian Gray Modern Language Notes, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Apr. , 1956), p. 264. Lawler, D. C. E. Knott. The Context of Invention: Suggested Origins of Dorian Gray Modern Philology, Vol. 73, No. 4, Part 1 (May, 1976), pp. 389-398. Wikipedia. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Online Accessed April 19, 2007. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dorian_Gray. Wilde, O. The Picture of Dorian Gray Modern Library Classics, New York. 1998.

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love. Faulkner provides the necessary pieces of symbolism, speckled through out the action of the story, for the reader to assimilate and assemble. Curiously, it is a broken time line that Faulkner follows, that allows him to achieve maximum effect at the end of the story. The placement of the conclusion or denouement at the beginning of the story, allows the curiosity of the reader to become strongly engaged on the character of Emily Grierson. As the narration begins with the funeral of Emily, the juxtaposition of the image received in the opening paragraph, is sharply compared to that of the information found in the third paragraph. Where in the first the town has come to pay respects to a fallen monument, in the third it is learned that she was really, "...a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town..." (276). The story progresses through flashbacks, and Emily is heard speaking to the gentlemen representing the Board of Aldermen, and it is noticed that she is wearing a thin gold watch chain. It is not until a lull takes place after the spokesman announces the purpose of their visit, that they then,"... could hear the inv... ...uest for love and security, and Emily has provided this for herself. Whether she knew the process through which she gained it was moral or not remains a mystery whose answer died with her. She sought refuge from the cold, and inhospitable environment of abandonment. She sought to get away from the only life she ever knew. The strategic placement of symbolism in the action of this story, provides vast areas with depth of knowledge from which the theme comes forth. The reader is pulled into character early on, by placing the conclusion up front, and placing the falling action at the end of the story. This creates a greater sense of surprise or shock value, and may even evoke a sense of true pity for Emily from the reader. Work Cited Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily Essay Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love. Faulkner provides the necessary pieces of symbolism, speckled through out the action of the story, for the reader to assimilate and assemble. Curiously, it is a broken time line that Faulkner follows, that allows him to achieve maximum effect at the end of the story. The placement of the conclusion or denouement at the beginning of the story, allows the curiosity of the reader to become strongly engaged on the character of Emily Grierson. As the narration begins with the funeral of Emily, the juxtaposition of the image received in the opening paragraph, is sharply compared to that of the information found in the third paragraph. Where in the first the town has come to pay respects to a fallen monument, in the third it is learned that she was really, "...a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town..." (276). The story progresses through flashbacks, and Emily is heard speaking to the gentlemen representing the Board of Aldermen, and it is noticed that she is wearing a thin gold watch chain. It is not until a lull takes place after the spokesman announces the purpose of their visit, that they then,"... could hear the inv... ...uest for love and security, and Emily has provided this for herself. Whether she knew the process through which she gained it was moral or not remains a mystery whose answer died with her. She sought refuge from the cold, and inhospitable environment of abandonment. She sought to get away from the only life she ever knew. The strategic placement of symbolism in the action of this story, provides vast areas with depth of knowledge from which the theme comes forth. The reader is pulled into character early on, by placing the conclusion up front, and placing the falling action at the end of the story. This creates a greater sense of surprise or shock value, and may even evoke a sense of true pity for Emily from the reader. Work Cited Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Events Which Take Place Essay

After reading ‘The Crucible’, I feel that in a society like the one described in the play, things along those lines would have been inevitable, when one takes into account the way things worked there. For example, it was a theocracy, which means they are governed by the Church, which in turn goes by the ruling of the Holy Bible, and not any laws passed by regular means. Another major contributor to all this tension is the fact that out of the eight children, Ruth is the only one who survived. Mrs Putnam is convinced that they have all been killed by supernatural means, and is always paranoid and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. This means when the cries of witch start spreading, she is convinced she has at last found the cause of death of her seven infants, and is determined to see those she sees as responsible hanged. She seems so desperate to pin the blame on someone who cannot be proven either way that it seemed that she was almost looking for any scapegoat to take the blame for those unfortunate events. She even goes as far as to send her only remaining child Ruth to Tituba in an attempt to get her to conjure spirits so she could contact the souls of her dead children. This ties her into things, but she never really emerges in the play as a candidate for any kind of punishment. This has most probably come as a result of her husband being a powerful landowner, making any allegations against him or his family like playing with fire. With this being a theocratic society, where the Church and State are one, and the laws given down by God are interpreted very strictly and literally by the people here, which means that breaking the law here would also be going against God’s will, so the consequences of any offence are dire. In Salem, everything can be classed as black or white, with God, or in league with the devil; with no shades of grey in between. This is shown by Danforth’s speech: â€Å"You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road in between. † This kind of attitude makes everyone very afraid of being seen as not closely bonded with God, as it would imply that they had dealings with the Devil. As Puritans, these strict Christians believe the worst thing that they can do is to defy ‘God Almighty’, so when John Proctor ends his affair with Abigail, she uses these accusations, as they demand the full attention of the court, right away. She is very clever in what she says, as shown by her outburst at the end of Act One, after Tituba confesses to witchcraft in the woods. She screams: â€Å"I want to open myself! †¦ I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. † And in Salem, although consorting with the Devil and â€Å"witchcraft’s a hanging error’, confessing it would redeem her, and freeing her from any kind of guilt. She uses this very well to protect her own reputation, and is quick to start naming names to ease the burden from her shoulders onto others. These actions show the length of Abigail’s selfishness, and its success in Salem sets and example for the other girls who are quick to latch on and do the same, thus suggesting Abigail may be the cause of events which take place in the Crucible. When Abigail and a few other girls are spotted dancing in the woods, and someone was seen to be naked and running around, they are immediately under suspicion, and were under great pressure to come out with a plausible explanation. This meant that instantaneously, they were all forced into a defensive position against the public and the courts. After Parris learns that the Putnams asked Tituba to contact the spirits of their dead children to learn the identities of their murderers, spotlights instantly turned onto the girls, under the accusations of witchcraft. This scares many of the girls like Mary Warren who know that ‘Witchery’s a hanging error’ and once she says that, panic ensues amongst the girls themselves. Abigail seems at first to be trying to help things out, but shows she had a short temper, by shouting ‘I’ll beat you Betty’ when Betty refuses to waken even when knowing it’s Abigail. It is then revealed that she is jealous of Goody Proctor, and drank blood on that occasion to kill her through supernatural means, but then threatens to kill anyone who dared to reveal this. This threat has come directly out of her fear of the punishment she will no doubt receive in such a theocratic society, making her the cause of this particular dramatic event, but only as a result of the type of society Salem is in the play, and therefore she is actually a symptom. Another good example of this is when at the climax of the play, Proctor finally weighs it out, and discards his concern for his reputation in seeking justice, by confessing to his affair: â€Å"I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. † But he is still careful to mention the power of God beforehand, which goes to show the extent of religion’s influence in the town, by starting with â€Å"A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now,† before going onto saying that the court must see, that â€Å"it is a whore’s vengeance† upon him. We also see in the play that her actions are far from ordinary in many cases and would have taken more than the average person to pull off. For example, even when Mary Warren confesses that ‘She never saw familiar spirits, apparitions, nor any manifest of the Devil’ she stands strong in denying that she had feigned anything. We see that she had been the cause of many catastrophic events had taken place, as well as being the symptom in what seemed inevitable in such a backstabbing and hypocritical society, and she has come across as a catalyst. Just as a catalyst, she speeds up the changes in the pressurised crucible that is Salem. Being the catalyst in this situation, she had a lot of control over the direction of the witch-hunt, and she mainly directed the accusations for her own personal gain. However, she starts to lose control when Mary Warren goes over to John Proctor’s side, and things go very wrong when John Proctor is accused, since the whole point of the witch-hunt for Abigail was so that she could finally be with him. It seems that even after she stops accusing people, the witch-hunt has gained great momentum, and people are accusing others of witchcraft whenever their loss may be at all beneficial to another, or at times for their own benefit. These latter accusations, needed no provocation from Abigail, but took course all by themselves, suggesting that Abigail was not at the centre of any of those events. So to conclude, my opinion is that Abigail is not entirely the symptom nor the cause of events in Salem, but acted as more of a catalyst, speeding up and making what was inevitable considering the society which Salem was, into reality, in a rather dramatic way. If I were however, to seem things as black and white as the people of Salem did, I would consider Abigail to be more of a symptom than a cause, mainly because after carefully studying the theocratic society where people were getting overly jealous of each other, something along these lines almost seemed to be destined. Also, the frightening power of the majority is able to suppress the minority who feel rather sceptical and are not convinced by the evidence may themselves be accused of being ‘against the court’ and receive punishment. This would mean standing up for their beliefs which in this case would have been correct would mean they would have lost their lives. So considering the circumstances of the rather extreme philosophical and religious guidance which plays such a huge role in the settlers of Salem, and the fact that Abigail was able to put a leash on things to direct it in a direction which benefited her does not make her a symptom either, just a catalyst in an equation with all the ingredients for such a terrible tragedy.