flowers.
Puritans are like flowers; cloaked with purity and beauty on the outside, but complicated and possibly poisonous deep down. Fleeing to America after harsh persecution in England, they hoped to start new purified life with much potential. The idea of purity and goodness has been drilled into their minds from the day they were born to the day they die. They have planted their faith deep into the earth, forever locking in their roots on the world and history. As a whole, they stuck together attempting to show an angelic community for the world through strict rules such as the Blue Laws. However, as time goes on and the winter cold, the Devil, comes around, they will one by one reveal their true selves and slowly wither away. Leaving a field of flowers unintended can be as catastrophic as allowing a wildfire to spread its arms.
In Young Goodman Brown, the pink ribbon resembled Faith’s purity and dedication to the Puritan society. Everyone watches over each other, ensuring that all living in their community are good and upright. Friends, authorities, and even family members pressure each other to be perfect Puritans, as Brown’s community did and this picture represents. Faith and Goodman Brown were connected by religion, as this flower family portrait shows as well. However, when one withers, the others will be infected and end with the same fate. For instance, Goodman Brown becomes inflicted with his loyalty to his religion as he “sees” more and more people from his community joining a Satanic ritual; he completely breaks down and loses all grip on Puritan society when Faith reveals herself during the ceremony. The family depicted in this photo has a similar representation as Goodman Brown’s. All of them are flowers, righteous and civil yet faceless and individually paralyzed. In Puritan society, everyone must have the same mindset to be perfect Puritans or else everything will fall into disorder; flowers look angelic and symbolize goodness, but are fragile and could succumb to anything.
FRAGILE FLOWER
how fragile is the flower, though its beauty shines neath the light of the sun, cut it stands in a sculpted vase, gasping, stunted by our desire decaying, fading - wilting away each petal kisses the table, its smell no longer permeate until it is tossed away, rotted and limp, replaced anew masking how fragile the flower is -TERRY HAMEL |
“How fragile a flower is…” begins the poem that reflects the brittle structure of Puritan life as well as representing how strict they are about their religion. If a flower begins to show decay, then it has no use for the only reason we wanted it was for its beauty. If a person reveals his/her sins, then Puritans must get rid of that person before they damage their perfectly orchestrated society. The poet writes, “fading -wilting away/… its smell no longer permeates until it is tossed away/rotted and limp/replaced a new masking/how fragile the flower /is”. This sentence reflects how strict they can be to the individual by sacrificing them in order to “save” the community. The Salem Witch Trials, for instance, clearly revealed how uptight and intolerable society was towards the ones who are different or who defy their rules. |
In the Crucible, neighbors accused each other of witchcraft and fear spread rapidly throughout the whole community. This photo depicting lungs made of flower symbolizes the frightened voices that have infected Salem. They consistently accused each other, spilling lies about enemies and outcasts to rid of the “sinners” and supposed witches. Abigail and her group of “bewitched” girls fired endless round of allegations against people in order to “rat out” the Devil. However, in reality, the girls were desperate for attention and they were poisonous flowers who slowly infected others around them. The lungs are filled with pure flowers, trying to stay faithful for the good of the community yet a single infection to one of them can quickly spread to others. Time will impose their harsh punishments on these virtuous however delicate voices as each flower shrivel ups and falls until there is not a single petal left to voice their “holy” duties as righteous citizens.
Puritans, knitted together by faulty strength made of blinding and beautiful colors, live on a fine line of religion between life and death. Any small mistake could lead to immediate death, and the burden of holiness suffocates the lives of Puritans, as shown in this drawing. To be model citizens for their community as well as the world, they must speak, breathe, and live for their religion. Although their intentions were good, many times their laws and rules conflicted with the true righteous decisions of humanity. The flowers wrap around and pierce deeper into the heart, clogging the veins and halting the functions of the organ. Without a properly working heart, the community can’t think, breathe, or live a moral and logical life, no matter how pure the flowers might seem to be.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Black and White Family Flowers Photo. Digital image. S3.favim.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://s3.favim.com/orig/43/black-and-white-family-flowers-photo-picture-Favim.com-363814.jpg>.
- Flower Heart. Digital image. Livelifeelectric.files.wordpress.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <https://livelifeelectric.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/tumblr_m77p3aeibd1qc6vpdo1_500.jpg>.
- Flower Lungs. Digital image. Tumblr.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <https://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mah3u3tAvF1r9c36po1_500.jpg>.
- Flowers. Digital image. Pinimg.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8b/45/0a/8b450a8fff4a2c77cd23914a8117cb02.jpg>.
- :"Fragile Flower by NeanderthalMan." Fragile Flower, a Poem by NeanderthalMan. All Poetry Poets. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://allpoetry.com/poem/10443331-Fragile-Flower-by-NeanderthalMan>.
- Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: A. Meyerson, 1953. Print.
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Young Goodman Brown. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1993. Print.
- “Blue Laws.pdf." Google Docs. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2015. <https://drive.google.com/a/ames.k12.ia.us/file/d/0B5UIEmSTuGpBRGFLbWlHTGZlZmdHVlhVNjVFMVRFU2RCeHln/view>.