Victimization and Blame: A Comparison Year of Wonders and The Crucible Amy Frangalas 12th Grade

When faced with extreme times of crisis, history has shown that humanity will show its fallible nature, particularly through the victimization and blaming of other individuals. Geraldine Brooks’ Year of Wonders and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, examine how it is through these times that true tests of human weakness occur and their inevitable consequences are suffered. Millers, The Crucible, an allegory of the McCarthy era in the 1950’s American society, recounts the controversial Salem witch trials that occurred in the late seventeenth century, where the harsh and true nature of humanity was exposed. Geraldine Brook’s, Year of Wonders, refers to the catastrophic plague which brought about devastation to many in the isolated town of Eyam, bringing individuals to the forefront of their own self-implosion as a result of this confinement. Within both Year of Wonders and The Crucible, Brooks and Miller discuss the multiple of issues of self-preservation and ignorance that lead to the crisis of humans turning against one another. Furthering this, the authors scrutinize the development of problems that are faced by their respective community, such as gender and religious beliefs. In doing so, Miller and Brooks critique their...