I don't know if it's just me who noticed this, but does anyone else find it sort of funny that the last book we read was by Nathaniel Hawthorne and in the book we just read, The Crucible, there was a judge named Hathorne, who just happens to be his relative? If I was related to one of those judges, I woud've changed my name too. Personally, hands down this is the best book I've read all summer. This is a book that I love to hate, it drives me crazy how easy they are to place blame! For example, Mrs. Putman she blames her stillborn'son Rebecca saying she murdered her children. But out of all of the accusers, the one I hated the most would have to be Parris' niece Abigail. She was a vindictive little witch, no pun intended. Abigail enjoyed watching others suffer on her behalf, and I was floored when they still took her word to be true even when Parris made it clear at the end that she robbed him blind and left! Although there is a character in this book who I positively hate, there is not a character that I favor the most. If anything it would have to be both the Proctors. They stood strong til the end, and I admire them both deeply.

The girl who started it all out technically was Parris' slave Tituba. In the play it says that she is from Barbados, but actually her ethnicity is quite debatable, some believe her to be Indian, others actually think she was Spanish. Also another thing is the real Sarah Good never admitted to being a witch. I think that one of the greatest themes of this book is just human nature. Think about today, most people would rather hear a juicy rumor then the truth which is very plain and boring, which is what happened back then. Turn on your TV, politicians today are trying to ruin each others names by saying untrue things about each other to try to gain our votes. In the play, one man claimed a women practiced witch craft only for the fact that years before he bought a pig from her and died. The Putmans did it out of jealousy of Rebecca's good fortune with her children and their want to get more land.

It is disgusting, the Salem Witch Trials. So many people died. And for what? Their neighbors ignorance, their belief that everything is the Devil's doing. Parris annoyed me so much in the third act, he was like chicken little, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!" "He's come to corrupt the court! He's come to corrupt the court!" I felt like reaching into the play and duct taping his mouth shut, just like the Girls. How can you call mocking someone witch craft? If that is witch craft then everyone has practiced witch craft at like the age five. Their claims, there was no substantial evidence! No one had a fair trial, they believed what they wanted to believe. The sad thing is, things like this has happened many times in history, ever heard of a little thing called The Holocaust? It is so sad how many poor souls were tortured, but the people who condemned them most likely got what they deserved. Sarah Wood's words "God will give you blood to drink" to the man who condemned her and guess what? God gave him blood to drink.

The Scarlet Letter

When I saw that we had to read "The Scarlet Letter", I was slightly scared because I was aware of how hard that book was. Now after reading it I can see it is probably one of the hardest books I have read. The language is drastically different then the language that we speak today, so at times I had to read a passage over and over again just to understand it. My favorite character in this book would have to be young Pearl. She was compared to an elf, whom tend to be mischievous if somewhat evil little creatures. People said she was a demon and in the chapter before Dimmesdale died, a women stated that perhaps satan himself was her father. Pearl is, not necessarily wise but more mature beyond her years. Demanding her mother tell her of her origin shocked me, at such a young age I did not think she would ask those sort of questions especially considering they are in Puritan times.

One of the major themes in this book is sin, one sin is what created these long chain of events. It is Dimmesdale's sin that eventually killed him, his fear of god. That's something else I realized was big in that time, they feared god and his wrath. They saw things in holier lights, for example when they see that meataor and believe it to stand for angel symbolizing the governors entrance into heaven. It sort of confused me when Chillingworth's character took on the appearance of evil, because was his demeanor changing or was there really that drastic changes in his appearances? Both Dimmesdale's and Chillingworth's death's are somewhat ironic. Dimmesdale is supposed to be a man of god and he goes against one of the ten commandments and dies due to his guilt over committing such a crime. While Chillingworth's search for revenge ends up killing him, which proves that when you seek revenge, dig two graves, one for your enemy and one for yourself.

The one part of the book that I found interesting was when Hester and Pearl were in the forest and Pearl remarked that the sunshine avoided Hester because it was afraid of the A on her breast, then how when Hester took off her A she was practically bathed in sunshine. I didn't know exactly why Pearl would've been afraid to go to her mother when Hester removed the A, which further complicates Pearl's character in my eyes because at times she can act like a normal child other times she acts so much more mature. Hester's grave next to Dimmesdale's grave was unexpected, but befitting. The letter A ended up taking a life of it's own, and became a legend. It's interesting how easily a town will turn it's back on one person for one mistake.

The Great Gatsby

When I first started "The Great Gatsby," I thought it was very drawn out, somewhat of a bore. I really liked Nick, he has kind of a dead pan sort of humor but he was very relateable. The only point where I didn't particularily like him was when he went with Tom into the city to see his mistress. I don't think I would've been able to look at the women who was causing Daisy to be sad. Daisy was an interesting child, the thing she said about how she hopes her daughter is a fool made me think that's really all men expected and wanted women to be at that time. To survive and somewhat live a happy life, you just needed to keep your head down and let your husband do as he pleases, ignorant bliss.
The setting is really important, I do like how the author describes it. Especially at the end, that was very good imagery. The character I didn't like very much was Tom. He was very hypocritical, he thought it was fine for him to have a mistress while Daisy had to remain faithful. I found his mistress very dull, thinking that he was going to leave his wife, which men never do and never will do. I like the relationship that Jordan and Gatsby have
I was so shocked when Gatsby died, it upset me. It was a very dumb death, to be killed by the husband of the mistress of your love's husband? That was way to soap opera for me and I didn't like it. I honestly expected him to drown himself, but his death was stupid. Although it did give a good message at the end, saying you may have money and popularity, but at the end of the day if you don't have anyone to hold you it's pretty pointless. Over all I thought the book had it's witty moments, but quiet boring.

Grapes of Wrath

"Grapes of Wrath" was like a breath of fresh air after reading Huck. This book made us remember some of America's darkest days. Right off the bat I enjoyed this book, the way the author wrote made me feel as though I was there with them while they watched their homes being ripped from them. The book ended in a very ironic way. With the rain coming and ruining everything while in the beginning the rain would've saved everything. The coldness and cruelty of the bankers and land owners and when the other migrants were prepared to sell out their friends for their own benefit showed how America was slowly turning into a country where you could only look out for your own well-fare and not burden yourself with other people's suffering.

One quote that really stood out to me was at the end of chapter twenty-five "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage," although I am not entirely sure what the ending means, I hope someone can clear that up for me. The character that I liked was Grandpa. He was stubborn and hard headed, but a true family man, I was sad that he had to die although maybe it was best he didn't feel the hardness of life in California. The Joad's dealt with many disappointments in their lives but a admire them for not giving up.

Although she was far from perfect, at times she seemed difficult, Ma was a character I admired. Sometimes she came off as mean, but she was scared. Scared for her family, scared of the sketchy future, and scared for her life. Ma honestly was the glue of the family, I deeply respect her. It really bugs me when people think they're better then other people because of something as petty like where you're from. It's not like the migrants wanted to go to California, what else were they supposed to do? Be run over by tractors or starved to death? I wish those people could walk a few miles in the farmers shoes, see how it feels to have everything that mattered to you stripped from you by the bank then forced to work hard labor for barely enough money to live of. This book was something I'm really glad we read, it literally gives me chills to think that my grandparents were only a couple years younger then me when this was happening.