PROCTOR - Manly man or just pretending to be?

Herro. So, this blog post is supposed to be about John Proctor, and whether he's a hero or a stooge. Hero = Manly man. Stooge = unmanly man. Hope this doesn't become TL:DR, but I'm not editing this, so whatever.

ALRIGHT. LET'S START THIS OFF.

   I think John Proctor is a very unmanly dude. Unmanly.

I mean, he cheated on his wife, man. That's just not cool. I find Proctor as sort of a.... hypocrite. Actually, he's the ultimate hypocrite. He hates people for being hypocrites, but he's being a hypocrite, so he's hypocritical for other people being hypocritical. That doesn't even make much sense, but let's just go with that.

   I think Proctor tries too hard to be a manly man. I feel like he's constantly pressured to be a manly man because he's sort of this "ideal man" to the townspeople. He's supposed to be this nice looking (I'm assuming, since he actually got the opportunity to cheat), strong, supposedly manly guy who takes good care of his family. This pressure of having to keep up this "image" eats at him, which is why he feels so guilty about doing such an unmanly thing.

By this point, you, the reader, might wonder why I think this way. After all, he might just feel guilty because he did something wrong. I don't think it's as simple as that. Because of this image he's supposed to hold, the fact that he did commit adultery hits his community that much harder. Think of it this way. If a leader of a country was found doing something immoral like stealing, it'd have a much stronger impact then if I stole something. After all, nobody cares about what I do because I'm insignificant. No one knows me. But when everyone knows you, there's pressure. Lots and lots of it. Any minor slip-up can be blown up to epic proportions. With a big unmanly move like this, anything could happen. Add that all on top of the fact that the Puritans are incredibly zealous and are willing to use death as a punishment, you can see why John is scared and guilty. 

    There's also the fact that his wife is chill about it. She knows he cheated on him, but she doesn't do anything about it. This lack of action also eats away at Proctor. If you've ever done something that leans significantly towards the "wrong" side, you'll know that not getting a reaction is hard to handle. You don't get to argue. It's like they're silently accusing you, which Proctor feels. He actually accuses his wife of accusing him when she never really said anything about it. That's his consciousness poking him. 

  All this, along with the fact that he can't just deal with it, leads me to the conclusion - PROCTOR IS VERY, VERY UNMANLY. I think the question "hero or stooge" is stupid. Why? Because I don't think he's done anything that's worth calling him a hero for. He has the face of a manly man, but on the inside, he's unmanly.

Well, hopefully this wasn't a wall of text. Hope it wasn't extremely boring, and if it was, sorry for the long read. :P I just really wanted to use unmanly and manly as many times as I could because the subject worked so well with it.

RELIGION IS #1. Or so the sermon claims.

Berfore I start, I have to say that I am agnostic. Which is saying, I believe in a god, but I don't believe in naming the god, or claiming to understand the god. I won't go in depth on my beliefs, but I think that it's important for you, the reader, to know that I am not a follower of any religion before you read on. Hopefully, this doesn't become TL:DR, but I don't have my thoughts gathered, so whatever.

I think of religion as a tool. Anyone claiming to have heard a god, speaking a god's word, or being a son of a god is an idiot, if I'm allowed to use that word. I think that religion can drive people into acts of valor and bravery, because of their beliefs and and faith in their beliefs, they can be driven to incredible acts. I also think that religion can be perverted and used for personal means. Zealots can be powerful, but I believe they are also easy to manipulate.

The sermon that our class read, "Sinners in the hand of an angry god" is, to me, an example of that perversion. I believe that Jonathan Edwards, the author, is, again, an idiot. He's preying on the fears of the people that listen to his preaching. He is probably a zealot, but I personally think that using fear as means to deliver his message is probably something going against his religion. If he truly believes that the people he is teaching believes in his "god" there is no reason for him to use fear to preach. What does using fear do? It means that the followers of that religion are following out of that fear, not because they truly love that relgion and live for it. They're not willingly believing in it, he's just making them feel forced into that religion.

I personally believe that religion serves as a light. It's purpose is to give people hope. The "god" exists to give people a goal, a model they can strive to become. It's a tool, one that exists inside people, and is wielded verbally. But people never fail to believe that they are in the right by doing things that their book of worships openly bans.

If your god is a loving one, then why would you kill? If your god is a forgiving one, then why do you condemn? If you truly believe in your god, why would you need to take matters into your own hands?

Religion is just a tool. It's a double-edged sword, one that's incredibly dangerous in the right hands.

Wall of text is no fun. :(

Arrivals.... There goes the Neighborhood.

Okay, so I only have the absolute vaguest idea on what post was supposed to be about. Something about cultures blending after meeting a new neighbor that moved in that was from another ethnic group, culture, or something like that. I'm not entirely sure, but whatever. I think that when two different cultures meet each other, two things can happen. Either one overtakes the other, or they meld and create a "hybrid" culture of sorts. I guess an example of a culture meeting another would be something like the missionaries for any religion converting people to Christianity or whatever religion they represent. I think a good example of a "hybrid" culture would be something like the US, where the various cultures of various ethnic groups are all represented and respected, through festivals, parades, and the right to practice whatever religion you wish.

Introductions

Right. Uh, my name's Milton Chung. People who know me well call me "Milkman," which is cool, if you want to call me that. Anyways, I skate (I'm so-so at it), play various musical instruments (acoustic, electric and whatnot). I also play video games, and I'm trying to get a sponsorship deal and get competitive in one specific game. I guess I'm sort of introverted, I don't really bother to talk to people or feel an urge to do so. I'm 15.... and not going to be able to drive, unfortunately, until junior year. 


I like pretty much any type of electronic music, besides really, really mainstream stuff on the radio. So yeah, I'm a bit of a hipster. I'm currently really, really, really into remixes of classical pieces, like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. But whatever, that's enough, I guess.