1. T HE O THER IN T HE C RUCIBLE J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

2. THESIS The Crucible is a critique of how dominant groups present other groups/individuals as the Other in order to maintain existing hierarchies. J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

3. A BINARY WORLDVIEW What is the relationship between the pairs of words below? Male / Female Master / Slave Insider / Outsider White / Black Coloniser / Native Modern / Primitive Centre / Periphery J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

4. ARISTOTLE “The male is by nature more capable of leadership than the female, unless he is constituted in some way contrary to nature, and the elder and perfect [is by nature more capable of leadership] than the younger and imperfect.” “But is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right, or rather is not all slavery a violation of nature? [...] There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.” J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

5. A PPLYING THE SOCRATIC METHOD What does “male” mean? What does “female” mean? What does “perfect” mean? What does “imperfect” mean? What on earth does “by nature” mean?! J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

6. T HE CONCEPT OF THE OTHER A concept used to define the self Self versus not-self Exclusion/marginalisation Establishing hierarchy / order UsThem GodSatan WhiteBlack FreeSlaves PuritanHeathen AmericanForeign MaleFemale J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

7. T HE OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY Treatment of native Americans Early Puritans felt themselves Othered Black African slavery Communists in the 1950s Any other examples? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

8. A RISTOTLE AGAIN But that those who take the opposite view [that is, who hold the view that slavery is not natural] have in a certain way right on their side, may be easily seen. For the words slavery and slave are used in two senses. There is a slave or slavery by law as well as by nature. The law of which I speak is a sort of convention-- the law by which whatever is taken in war is supposed to belong to the victors. But this right many jurists impeach, as they would an orator who brought forward an unconstitutional measure: they detest the notion that, because one man has the power of doing violence and is superior in brute strength, another shall be his slave and subject. J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

9. T HE V ALLADOLID CONTROVERSY 1550 Are native Americans human? Resolution? YesNo God created Man in his image, so all humans should be equal. As Aristole says, some people are “naturally” slaves Indians can be converted to Christianity i.e. Christians are “like us” The native Americans practice human sacrifice i.e. they are “not like us” J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

10. T HE CONQUEST OF THE AMERICAS The NEW World No mention in the Bible No mention in existing knowledge Vast difference in climate, flora and fauna, culture = sense of instability/unrest J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

11. U NREST IN SALEM Question Where is this unrest in The Crucible ? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

12. U NREST IN SALEM Town versus village Private feuds Repressed emotions in the young girls Who are we as a community? Who am I? Loss of the old sense of purpose, even faith? What is truth? Who is speaking it? How can we judge what is true? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

13. U NREST IN THE C RUCIBLE (1) The edge of the wilderness was close by. The American continent stretched endlessly west, and it was full of mystery for them. It stood, dark and threatening, over their shoulders night and day, for out of it Indian tribes marauded from time to time.... The parochial snobbery of these people was partly responsible for their failure to convert the heathens.... For these reasons... They carried about an air of innate resistance, even of persecution. (3) J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

14. U NREST IN THE C RUCIBLE (2) Aye, sir, he have been searchin’ his books since he left you, sir. But he bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it. (7) Here is all the invisible world, caught, defined, and calculated. In these books the Devil stands stripped of all his brute disguises. (32) J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

15. U NREST AND THE OTHER Attempt to impose boundaries, rules, order Attempt to impose/maintain hierarchies Attempt to define self, community J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

16. W HO / WHERE IS T HE OTHER IN THE CRUCIBLE ? Race Gender Class Hierarchy Morality: innocent / guilty etc. J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

17. OTHERING (1) PARRISJudge Hathorne – it were another sort that hanged till now. Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him. John Proctor is not Isaac Ward that drank his family to ruin. (102) Questions What is meant by “another sort”? Why will the judges find it harder to convict people like Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

18. O THERING (3) The boundary is unstable DANFORTH Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside? (69) DANFORTH And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature? […] FRANCISExcellency, I never thought to say it to such a weighty judge, but you are deceived. (70) J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

19. O THERING (3) CONT ’ D DANFORTHThere lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit, any desire to undermine this court? (72) HALE... Is every defence an attack upon the court? Can no one--? (75) DANFORTH... Unless you doubt my probity? (81) J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

20. O THERING (3) An attempt to gain power and/or deprive others of power P 84 Question What is the conflict here? What is Proctor trying to achieve? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

21. J USTICE AND JUDGEMENT Question Does The Crucible encourage us to judge the following characters harshly? Parris Haworth Hale Abigail John Proctor Tituba J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

22. T HE TRAUMA OF THE DISCOVERY Avatar as a reassuring “remake” of history? What is literature’s role in dealing with “historical trauma”? What other instances of Othering can we point to in today’s societies? J. Phay / American Lit / 2013

23. RESOURCES http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/ http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/distance_arc/ las_casas/Aristotle-slavery.html J. Phay / American Lit / 2013