Lethal Weapon

In the "Arthur Miller and how he Went to the Devil" article Arthur Miller says that, "Literature is a weapon, but not in the sense that Marxists, Fascists, and our own 'Americanists' believe. It is possible to read a royalist-Catholic writer and draw sustenance for a Left-wing position from him; it is possible to draw a conservative moral from an anti-conservative work. A work of art creates a complex world, and as the past hundred years have proved, the special 'truth' of one decade may turn out to be the reactionary falsehood of another. It is a poor weapon whose direction is so unstable to serve one side at one valid moment and another side the next." Miller poses such a great idea with this metaphor. This class, focused on censored texts, simply proves the power of literature. Some people believe a book/play can corrupt families, ruin societies, and expose falsities or dangerous truths. The instability Miller points out is also incredibly accurate. In class so far we have discussed incidents with both Grease and Harry Potter. I remember watching Grease at quite a young age. Granted, I did not understand any of the sexual innuendos within the musical. The last thing that I would ever consider Grease to be would be a weapon. I think of it as a classic or just relatively standard - I would have never been aware of its "dangerous" nature until it had been pointed out. Similarly, I read each Harry Potter book as they were released. I was exposed to this world of magic and wizardry in elementary school and continued to grow up with the books. I could not fathom this being a weapon or even the least bit threatening but with any work of art - it's effects are not stable.

Miller addresses censorship early on in The Crucible. Immediately, we are taken into a time with people living on edge - attempting to protect themselves and their loved ones from the unknown/ anything different. Betty & Abby behave just like typical teenage girls - slightly rebelling and going against the wishes of their parents/guardians. The adults in their lives attempt to protect/ censor the girls from this overwhelming theme of witchcraft. Similarly to the Harry Potter and Grease situations - if the adults had just taken some time to read/ learn about the subject matter - I believe that the danger that lies within these topics would virtually vanish.