Comparing The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck and The...

The Grapes of Wrath, written by John Steinbeck, is a novel depicting life during the Dust Bowl, while The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller is a semi-fiction version of the Salem Witch Trials. Despite these vast differences they both share three main character dependant themes. The sorrow of regret, the destruction of one’s religion, and the greed of some at the expense of many. The sadness that emits from sorrow is one of the main occurrences in these novels. The Crucible is a story about a false accusation of civilians committing witchcraft which ends up creating massive hysteria due to the trials having a misled judge. Reverend Hale is the main priest of Salem which is the setting of the The Crucible. Judge Danforth is hired to†¦show more content†¦Uncle John who is one of the main characters refuses to get his pregnant wife a doctor when she was complaining of stomach problems. Though as a natural result, he felt sorry for what he did. â€Å"Nearly all the time the barrier of loneliness cut Uncle John from people...One could not talk to him then, for he ran away, or if confronted hid within himself and peeked out of frightened eyes. The death of his wife, followed by months of being alone, had marked him with guilt and shame and had left an unbreaking loneliness on him† (Steinbeck 96). The sorrow that emits from regret is an important the me because every character in both novels makes bad choices. But all the characters have different ways of counteracting the emotions from them; this without doubt brings distinction among the characters. Another important theme is the destruction of one’s religion. In The Crucible, Parris is one of the most important figures of the village and is required to follow the religious rules of the church. But despite this strain, he refuses to. His actions and ideas show that he is only using his religious stance to maintain social class within the community. In the beginning of the story, Parris proclaims that witchcraft is not the cause of the auspicious hysteria, Now, Goody Ann, they only thought that were a witch, and I am certain there be no element of witchcraft here† (Miller 14). Actually there is no witchcraft at all, though it gets used as an excuse to prevent Parris from