Friday, November 23, 2012

In "The Crucible" can you tell me 2 differences between Sarah Good and Rebecca Nurse, and the Putnams and the Nurses?

Sarah Good and Rebecca Nurse are both very old women in the town of Salem, but that is about where the similarities end.  Sarah Good is a beggar, a homeless woman, incredibly poor and ill-educated.  Mary Warren herself says that "she sleeps in ditches" and is poor, and came to the house once begging for food and drink.  She also jabbers and jabbers, talking a lot, all of it foolish nonsense words.  Rebecca Nurse is none of these things. She comes from a family that is rather well off financially.  She has a home; in fact, her and her husband have quite a bit of land and started a new town of sorts called Topsfield.  She holds great influence and sway in the town, and is known as being a very righteous and wise woman.  People look to her for advice, and as a sort of judge in matters.  Her words are taken very seriously, and people weigh them as heavy and wise ones.  So, the differences between these two women are very great indeed.


The Putnams and the Nurses are more similar--they are both rich, have land, and hold influence and sway in the town.  There are a couple differences between these two families though.  First of all, the Nurses had a lot of children--eleven kids, in fact, all who lived and thrived.  The Putnams only had one child, Ruth, who survived, and the other 7 died.  So, there's a key difference.  Another difference is that the Putnams are much more materialistic, and less "godly."  The Nurses have a reputation for being a church-going, righteous family, whereas the Putnams have no such reputation.  They participate freely in the witch trials, even prompting some accusations so that they may gain more land. They are part of the accusers, and the Nurses become accused of witchcraft at the voice of the Putnams.  So, those are key differences there.


I hope that helps; good luck!

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