The Parallels between The Crucible and The Rwanda Genocide
The themes of justice, community and sacrifice in The Crucible are universal and can be identified in many modern events in history, including the Rwanda Genocide. The genocide in Rwanda and The Salem Witch Hunts in The Crucible have many striking similarities, primarily these are: the hunting down and killing of a group of people identified as being different, the mass killing of people for no valid reason and the taking of revenge on a whole group of people for the acts of one or more individuals of that group.
Common to these two events is the ruthless hunting down of victims. The judges in The Crucible pressure Abigail and the girls for the names of possible witches. Their…show more content… Paul knew that he and his family would be killed if the Hutu’s discovered what he was doing, but he did not falter. He took them in, protected them and provided for them when no one else had the courage to. He refused to betray or abandon his family and friends or his people. He saved the lives of 1 268 refugees through his sheer strength, intelligence, perseverance and bravery. Paul’s refusal to betray his people to save himself is strikingly similar to John’s refusal to betray his friends. Although his betrayal would have saved his life and allowed him to be with his family, he could not do it.
John’s refusal to betray his friends leads to the ultimate sacrifice. His final act of defiance, to refuse to be part of something untruthful, ultimately led to his death. This emphasises his strength of character and his immense courage. Like John Proctor, Paul also made sacrifices and took great risks. Paul sacrifices his home, his job, the safety of his family and was even willing to sacrifice his life to save the lives of people he didn’t even know, but was willing to protect. He gave help to anyone who needed it, Hutu or Tutsi.
Both of these acts of sacrifice, from just one individual, led to the saving of many lives.
The themes of justice, community and sacrifice in The Crucible are universal and timeless. The Crucible teaches us about these themes and teaches us to identify them in historical events. The baseless killing of innocent people
