The Power of an Individual Power makes a huge impact on life. When someone is granted power, it may change their attitude toward certain situations. People with higher social status may have different perspectives on life than the people with lower social status. People may change their perspectives on life based on other people's’ life. The author, Jonathan Edwards who wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” wrote the quote “To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing”. Some people may be having an amazing life, while you are suffering. Your perspective on life may be that life is worthless. The actions people take can be dependant upon their social status, and their perspectives in life.
Sometimes what people say can change our perspectives. The episode “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” from the show “The Twilight Zone” shows that the people’s perspectives completely changed when Tommy said that there is a family of aliens. They thought that aliens were controlling the electricity. The neighbors started to make conclusions about others and accused them of being aliens. They were so quick to believe that there were aliens. Charlie Farnsworth, one of the most aggressive neighbors gets out his shotgun when the neighbors panic about a shadowy figure and shoots Pete Van Horn. Pete is instantly killed. All the neighbors start throwing rocks at Charlie, then people start blaming others of being aliens. They are all against each other. From what one person said, people changed their perspectives on the others.
Social class can have an effect on how much power you have in a society, and that is proved in “The Crucible”. Abigail Williams is the niece of the Reverend, and because of that she is very powerful in the town of Salem. When Abigail was caught dancing with her friends in the woods by her uncle, she worked to convince the townsfolk that her maid, Tituba, had bewitched the girls and lured them into the woods. Once Tituba falsely admitted to working with the devil to save her life, Abigail realized she could use this to rid the town of everyone who has ever crossed her, starting with Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth was the wife of John, a farmer who had an affair with Abigail months ago. Abigail believed that once Elizabeth was out of the picture, John would realize that Abigail is who he wants to be with. Her plan backfires in the end, and John is accused of witchcraft and hanged.
On the other end of the social ladder is John Proctor. Because John was a farmer, the only power that he had in the town was with other farmers. Abigail confessed to John that there was no witchery, but when John took the claim to court, he was not able to convince the judges that what he was saying was true. Reverend Parris and the judges believed that John only seeked to overthrow the court. It took a while for the others to realize that John could be right, but they would not admit it because they would lose their power. Because John was not very powerful, the judges convinced him to admit to working with the devil and die so their wrongdoings would be forgotten. The only thing that John had was his name, and such a claim would hang over it forever. He did not want his family to be forced to live with such a burden, so he was sentenced to hang, but took his dignity with him.
Although it may seem that those with higher social status are better than other people, this may be a trap because they could be blinded by their own power or perception of power. In the song Serve the Servants by Nirvana they use a lyric that explains this really well, “Self-appointed judges judge”. In the crucible Judge Danforth only cared about his reputation and people were hanged without him having enough evidence to do so. Abigail Williams, being the main cause of all of this from the start got many girls to join her in this mess of lies. The song Garden by Pearl Jam has the lyrics “The direction of the eye, so misleading” which connects with how Abigail got so many to follow her in saying people of the town were witches. Abigail gained power from the girls faking seeing things with her. All this time the judges never believed the people telling the truth about there not being any witchcraft which caused more and more people to be accused for silly reasons like if they didn’t like them. “Stop whispering, start shouting” is a lyric from Whispering by Radiohead. People who knew there were no witches didn’t speak up and make themselves heard. So many were hanged because of that and if they confessed to being a witch there life was spared but the family got a bad name. Abigail blinded by her power played a huge role in this and held more and more power as the Crucible went on and more people joined her.
When it comes to life, there are many different choices you can make, and paths to follow. In the short poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken, he says “And having perhaps the better claim,”. For no specific reason other than it’s just life, are actions taken different for all people. It can depend on their social class, or simply because of how they were raised. Even though somewhere in the middle of the world in a small town, or a big city there might be a little boy who has been dealt a terrible hand in life, he might end up better off in the end. Maybe there is a reason for all of the bad things that happen to people. maybe it’s that in the end their lives will have meant more to them and they will have been given a happier finish. All because of how they struggled through the beginning.
“Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.”. I think what Robert F. is trying to say in this extremely vague stanza, is that when people make decisions in their lives, they take it in total faith. Nobody knows what could or will happen, and a lot of people are afraid of what they cannot control. What is even scarier than the unknown, is knowing that you can’t go back. Once you have made a life changing decision, there is no turning around. Often times, people aren't even capable of taking the first step into uncertainty. let alone the next step, dealing with the consequences or even sometimes receiving the reward. Once you have made a decision, you have to learn to be “ok” with it. Sometimes, depending on your life and whatever situation you are in, it’s harder to realize how much power you actually have to make a decision and the effect it can and will have on the people around you. It can be challenging to make it through life without being persuaded and manipulated by the people you’ll meet. But if you can stay strong and realize what you want and how to get it, sometimes people can make it happen.
“And sorry I could not travel both”. One of the most important things to realize is that no matter who you are or what your social status is, when life gives you a choice to make and there are two paths leading in different directions, nobodycan take both. So even though it might be easier for people with money, experience, or good looks to get through life uncomplicated and painless, even they can’t choose to take both paths. Even they can’t escape the natural effect of life, which is making choices. Everybody has power, some people are more willing to use it than others. Some people never even realize that they have it, and some people just refuse to recognize when they have too much. Power is a delicate thing, and it can be used to create beautiful things, but it can also be used to destroy anything and everything. It all rests in the hands of the individual.