• Research Paper on:
    Corruption of Power: Hawthorne and Miller

    Number of Pages: 3

     

    Summary of the research paper:

    A 3 page paper which examines the theme of corruption of power in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. No additional sources cited.

    Name of Research Paper File: JR7_RAcuwl.rtf

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    that power lies corruption as well. They are stories that speak of injustices done to people, through the guise of righteousness and religion. The following paper examines the corruption of  power, as primarily seen in religion or religious figures, in Hawthorne and Millers works. Corruption of Power: Hawthorne and Miller In both stories there is one primary character  that seems to possess some power because of the position as a man of the cloth, a religious leader. In Hawthornes story it is Dimmesdale and in Millers story it  is Parris. They are both reverends and they are both clearly very responsible for the condition of the corruption of power, especially as it concerns their position. In Dimmesdales case  it is not such a vicious corruption of power as much as it is a simple selfish and weak position. He abuses his power, as a man of the cloth,  by not coming forward and claiming that he is the father of Hesters child, that he is, in fact, and adulterer and has gone against society and the church. But  he prefers to use his power as a preacher and even goes so far as to tell another man of the cloth the following: "this poor, sinful woman, that she  hath an infant immortality, a being capable of eternal joy or sorrow, confided to her care-to be trained up by her to righteousness, to remind her, at every moment, of  her fall (Hawthorne Chapter VIII). His power resides in his position as a man of the people and of God and yet he corrupts that power by lying and not  admitting his own sins. In Millers story the character of Parris is perhaps paranoid and controlling, using his position as a man of God to control other people. He 

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