The Modern Puritan(s)

The Puritans. They were very strict people indeed. Any small action that went against their beliefs was severe in their eyes. Now, who are the Puritans of the modern day era? The person you see in the mirror exhibits the qualities of a Puritan. That’s right, you. You are not the only one that exhibits these qualities. A lot of people, including myself, exhibit these qualities

            Now, you might be thinking “This guy is a doofus if he thinks I exhibit Puritan qualities!” and/ or “What qualities are you blabbering about?!” Answer me this. What is your reaction when you see a 16-year-old teenage mother? You probably look down at her, right? You might even think of her as a…well…. you know…a whore. Exactly. Does this remind you of anyone? *cough cough, the Puritans?*

            I know we don’t punish these people with prison time, but we often look down at them. We often think less of them. They are frowned upon. This is something the Puritans did. “If you are not careful, you’ll end up pregnant like____” This is something that a lot of people say nowadays. They use other people as examples. This happened to Hester. The villagers looked down at her and used her as an example. She was an outcast. The same is done to people today. Example? Teenage mothers, people with alcohol problems, etc are all subjected to this. Do you see your Puritan side now?

            

John Proctor Hero or Scrooge? 


I personally believe that John Proctor is the epitome of a hero. Yes, he committed adultery, but is everyone perfect? I know I'm not. John Proctor has always been liked by the community. He was always thought of as a good Puritan. The only problem was that he was a hiding a very serious secret. He was secretly having an affair with Abigail, Parris' niece. This is considered a severe offense in the Puritan community. Yes you might be thinking, "you seriously think this doofus is a hero?!" This is just one wrong he committed. Everybody makes mistakes. He began to show his heroic (well not quite heroic but brave to say the least) persona when he admitted that he had an affair with Abigail. He was willing to ruin his reputation in order to reveal the type of person that Abigail was. This was very brave if you ask me. Now, for the most heroic deed committed by John Proctor....(drumroll) At the end of chapter 4, Proctor was being forced to sign a confession in which he stated that he was a witch. He was also asked if he knew other people who were involved. He said no several times. Before the confession was taken away from him, he ripped it into several pieces. He died without ratting anyone out. Proctor is a true hero.

Arrivals...There Goes The Neighborhood

      I have always lived on the South side. More specifically, Little Village. Little Village is a predominantly Mexican community on the city's southwest side. It's a very vibrant place. It is often labeled as the Mexico of the Midwest and the Second Magnificent Mile (because of the long strips of commercial businesses). Now, you might be thinking "what a great community!", but in reality, it hasn't always been so great.
   
     Little Village has always had a gang problem. According to my father, it dates back to the 1970's. Violence plagued the neighborhoods during those times, but the amount of violence started to decrease slowly, until now. As of 2012, I have been noticing the arrival of more gang members in the neighborhood. A few years back, you were able to see a few gang members roam through the streets, but not many. Nowadays, I see groups of up to 8 gang members.  I`m not the only person who has noticed. A lot of my neighbors and people in the community have noticed too. They are not very happy about this.

    A lot of my neighbors are trying to do something about the gangs that are moving in. They are speaking to the alderman, the police ,etc. I think that their work is paying off because 2 gang members were driven off my block. There is still a long way to go. I still see graffiti on the walls on my way to school and I still see a lot of gang members . Little boys used to ride their bikes through the neighborhood, little girls used to jump rope outside of their house, a lot of people used to roam the streets . These things are not seen as much anymore.Who are the culprits? Gang members. Who is affected? The community.