Open Letter to the author of Dinosauria We.

Dear Mr. Bukowski:

I must say that this poem is part of that type of literature that irks me. To me, it is several things. It is fear of progress, which ultimately runs contrary to human nature. It is hypocrisy; the poem speaks of the excess of the Cold War, but forgets how excessive the generation before yours perceived yours. Finally, you select the bad part of out society and plays them out to be more influential than they are. The poem makes the bold statement “As the supermarket bagboy holds a college degree.” What kind of Marxism is that! Inasmuch as you, Mr. Bukowski, are denouncing such a phenomenon, if you had your way, the standards for vocation would never rise. And it is that fear of progress that annoys me so. Also, you speaks of the dangers of nuclear war. I must say that nuclear war is indeed very dangerous, but is the fact that it is so dangerous that will likely never occur. No human being would start a war that would surely kill him. Also, your generation saw the Second World War, perhaps the First. Finally, you fail to mention entities such as Elvis Presley and all those people that made American society full of entertainment. You fail to mention Ronald Reagan, and the space race and so and so forth. You simply focuses on the bad parts of American society. And for those three reasons, your poem irks me.

John Proctor: Hero or Stooge?

In my opinion, John Proctor is both a hero and a stooge. John Proctor is indeed an adulterous man. This is revealed in the beginning of the book. Here, in a conversation with Abigail, he tells her that he has no interest in her whatsoever. This is in response to her complaints that he is unfaithful to her, even though he certainly loves her. Despite the fact that Proctor is an adulterer, he does seem to have seem to have some sort of moral recognition. During the play, he speaks to Elizabeth Proctor, his wife, over his transgressions. Proctor is full of guilt over his adultery, but Elizabeth has no knowledge of his transgression, and she informs him of such, to his amazement. By the time that Act IV arrives, Proctor has confessed his sin of adultery. In the Puritan point of view, he is vindicated. His willingness to confess his violation of the Ten Commandments and the moral laws of the society are important, but they do little for his lot. The fact that he committed adultery soon serves to doom him, as Abigail who uses every advantage possible to manipulate Puritan society to her favor. Proctor’s confession severs his bonds with her, and this will likely incur her anger. And so that sense, Proctor is a stooge; he made a foolish error at a terrible time to do so, that time being the time of moral purges in the Puritan community.