End of the Pit and the Pendulum

As the walls were closing in on me, I realized there was only one way to go, and that was down.  As the walls drew nearer, I noticed that there was a small crack underneath some portions.  I knew what I had to do, I jumped down into the pit as the walls singed the edge of my cloak, and I grabbed onto the edge where I saw the fissure in the wall.  It took all my strength and I was only holding onto the edge with only one hand.  As soon as they had started moving, the walls retracted.  I saw a small crack of light at one end of the room, and I made a dash for it, since it was as dark as night, the guard could not see me.  He bellowed loudly, "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!"  He obviously say my torn cloak on the ground.  I made my way through a series of twists and turns and I ended up outside.  I was free! I dashed into the woods and moments later I heard the trampling of hooves, and then I fell asleep.  I woke in a bed looking up at a thatch roof, as I turned my head I saw my rescuer, a woman in her forties.  I had escaped the Spanish Inquisition!

Irony in the Crucible

I loved how ironic this story was from start to end.  There were small bits and pieces here and there but throughout the whole thing, there was a whole entire ironic plot happening that many look over.  It is the fact that they are performing a witch hunt in a Puritan community.  Puritans are among the most strict of the Christian branches.  They have to dress modestly, wear mostly black, and even their writings had to depict God in some way.  I think that it was funny that Salem was a Puritan community and they were accusing people of compacting with the devil.  This makes no sense to me at all, but I also like how the Crucible tied in so tightly with the Joseph McCarthy story.  This story was a very interesting one to read and I enjoyed it very much.

Joseph McCarthy and Communism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_swO7Z2Vso
I think that this video accurately describes the extremist views of Joseph McCarthy.  He was so bent of finding traces of Communism in anything he could get his hands on.  He even attacked the Democratic Party and accused them of working with the Communists.  He would go door to door and ask if people had any ties or knew of anyone who had any ties to the Communist Party.  This would cause people to get scared and turn in someone that they did not like.  If a name was mentioned, there was almost nothing that person could do except for accept the consequences, such as loosing their job.  Joseph McCarthy even attacked the U.S. Army about Communist cover ups.  The actions of Joseph McCarthy struck terror into the hearts of many, fortunately the actions of other leaders in America at the time helped resolve the unnecessary terror that had spread throughout America.

Fire and Brimstone

May the Lord have mercy on your souls. Just as you think nothing of gathering up leaves and burning them in a fire the Lord just as easily throw you into the pits of hell.  We are lucky that we are not all at this very moment descending into the depths of hell, for it is the Lord's unfailing mercy that keeps our rotten souls on Earth.  Our souls could be in eternal separation from God at the cost of what, a few pleasurable moments on this earth?  Repent ye, and your soul shall be saved from the grasp of Lucifer.  For it is by the grace of God that we can be saved.

Squanto

When the Pilgrims came over on the Mayflower, it was the dead of winter, and they were low on food rations.  Many pilgrims did not make it through the winter but the ones who made it through the rough times found help in the Native Americans.  There was one Native American in particular who was very helpful in helping the Pilgrims establish a corn crop and his name was Squanto.  Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, and what time of year to plant it.  I think that Squanto was the "crutch" that the Pilgrims could lean on until they had a thriving community.  Squanto was undoubtedly the greatest contributor to the Pilgrim colony.

http://www.themoralliberal.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/squanto11.jpg