A Piece Of String Editorial
A Piece of String Editorial
Have you ever, in any circumstance, been blind sided by someone accusing you of something you never have committed? Maybe it was a simple lie you were accused of saying, or maybe stealing a little candy in a store, plagiarism, or, in much more serious cases, a federal offense. I am sure you have, because everyone has been in that positions, and everyone knows how it feels, to a certain extent. Many examples of this can be found the novel “The Crucible” and in the short story “A Piece of String”. These two stories are based on false accusations and how the general public responds to them. Sometimes these suspicions can go throw the snowball effect and ruin people’s lives. So how would one respond to a false accusation in order to keep the situation under control and to have a clear name?
The best way to respond to these accusations is to always remember to be calm and choose your words carefully, not to say anything incriminating or vulgar, this shows impatience and emotions that can lead to more accusations. For example, when John Proctor, character in “the Crucible”, is accused of witchcraft, after trying to clear his wife’s name of the same allegation, he does not think his words trough and does not keep a calm stature. This man continues by saying “God is dead!” (The Crucible p.125) which does not help his situation seeing that witchcraft is the Devil’s work. Moreover, in the story “A Piece of String” the main character, Maître Hauchecome, is denunciated to have stolen a pocketbook filled with money. At first he is wise as to simply explain what it was he had picked up from the ground; a little piece of string. But once he found out that the source of this charge was in fact one of his foes, Maître Maladin, he follows his charge by calling him names and “abuse each other for an hour” (p.231). As you can see, if these characters would have thought before acting, it would...
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