"No one can really know what their lives were like. They had no novelists and would not have permitted anyone to read a novel if one were handy. THeir creed forbade anything resembling a theater or "vain enjoyment" They did not celebrate Christmas, and a holiday from work meant only that they must concentrate even more upon prayer." (138)
This quote shows that the villages of the people in the crucible is very religious, they have no time everyday, everyweek to do anything they like, they have absolutely no leisure time. They pray when they don't work and they work when they don't pray. This shows how religious the village of Salem really is and how the people of the town treats god very seriously. In the Scarlet Letter, Hester was punished heavily for committing deadly sins, well sins they considered deadly, which shows how pious they are about their religion just as the people of the Crucible are. Both stories have very religious groups of people and this greatly affects them as their way of life changes.
I like your comment very like not only because I analyzed the same quote but also because you further elaborate some essential elements, which I did not have on my analysis. I think it will be better if you emphasize Hester was punished "publicly." Public punishment, like whipping, hanging or even putting A on Hester, was actually common in Puritan society at the time. If you look at the purpose of having putting A on Hester as punishment, you will figure out the Puritans were trying to let the public know how shameful Hester was; therefore, Puritan had this tendency to punish lawbreakers publicly.
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