Mompellion And John Proctors The Crucible - 1534 Words

If God saw fit to send this scourge, I believe it would be His will that one face it where one is, with courage, and thus contain this evil.† These are the words of Michael Mompellion to the villagers of Eyam in ‘Year of Wonders’. Through the course of that ‘annus mirabilus’ of 1665, Mompellion’s views on many things change and he loses his faith but he still provides remarkable leadership to the village in some of the most taxing circumstances imaginable. Under his leadership characters like Anys Gowdie, Elinor Mompellion and Anna Frith deal with changes and challenges with courage and determination. On the other hand, ‘The Crucible’ shows that not all change is good and that not all leaders possess courage; in fact, some powerful people†¦show more content†¦In ‘Year of Wonders’ and Eyam there is a lack of courage and there is self-interest but it tends to be shown by people less well-placed and less influenti al than in Salem. There is Josiah Bont, the self-serving grave-digger who takes advantage of people when they are at their most vulnerable; there is his wife Aphra, posing as the ghost of Anys Gowdie and selling worthless charms and trinkets to the dull and desperate; there are those who let the mob lead them to beating the innocent Mem Gowdie and lynching that â€Å"rare creature†, her niece, Anys. This crowd â€Å"surged at Anys where she knelt beside her aunt, leaping upon her and clawing at her flesh.† Then there were the Bradfords who started as hypocrites and ended in precisely the same fashion with Elizabeth attempting to drown the newborn Aisha. So there are characters in both texts who demonstrate a distinct lack of courage but not necessarily all of these lack determination; what they do lack is compassion. Courage and leadership should be synonymous but, unfortunately, all too frequently they