Equality And Tolerance As A Crucial Values Of Just Society

What makes a just society is the people around you. The actions, the words of others affect how we all live. Pieces like The Crucible, Ain’t I a woman and Optimism show examples of elements and values that are needed in a just society.

Equality, tolerance and being selfless determine the the scale between good and bad. As we look deeper into these pieces we can uncover what a just society should look like. To have a just society you need to always have equality.Equality is a necessity that every society should have because if it doesn’t the society can go into shambles and can lead to riots, protests and more killing, which no society needs. In the crucible the girls and Tituba were not treated equally, they were the ones to be easily accused of witchcraft. They were easier to put a target on. There was little to no equality in the Salem society which made it easier for people to be accused whether they be women, black or minorities. Abigail says “They want slaves, not such as I. Let them send to Barbados for that. I will not black my face for any of them!” (Miller10).

It is important that everyone is equality, we should never bash someone for being black, or white, or any other minorite. We should all be on an even playing field. No one person should be higher up than the other person. In Ain’t I a Woman Sojourner talk about her experiences being a slave and not being able to have the same things like all the other women. She says, “I have borne thirteen children, and seenmost all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me! Ain’t I a Woman?” (Sojourner). She is is saying that no one but Jesus can hear he cries of pain and grief of the loss of her thirteen children being sold off. She has no support in her life. She wonders why she gets treated like this. What did she do to deserve this. She goes on to talk about women’s rights and how they should be equal with the rights of man.

Tolerance is another important value that a society needs in order to be just. Tolerance is being open-minded, being more “hospitable to new ideas and new views of truth” (keller), according to keller. Tolerance in a just society can stop the killing. Hatred is a killer and with more people hating, the society is going to diminish and have nothing left. Everyone is going to eat away at each other until there is nothing left.

In Helen Keller’s Optimism she explains what tolerance is and why it is important. Education takes a part in learning how to be tolerant to others. Like Keller states, “tolerance is a vital in a community” (keller), it is something to help men think together and share opinions without fighting and killing each other because of a different outlooks on life. Keller states, “No loss by flood and lightning, no destruction of cities and temples by the hostile forces of nature, has deprived man of so many noble lives and impulses as those which his intolerance has destroyed” (Keller). Keller is trying saying that we kill each other, more than any natural disaster can. Intolerance to others has ruined the ideas of speaking your mind and having your own opinions. Everyone justs wants to have their own opinion and stick with it. That doesn’t work, when we don’t all agree on something it can become difficult and confusing when making life changing decisions. Say in elections, you always should have an open mind because you need to take every possibility into consideration. In society we need to be selfless, put others before ourselves. Take the feelings of others into consideration before our own.

To be a just society we need to band together and help each other. Put in the work to make the society better. Like in Ain’t I a Woman, Sojourner Truth is a negro woman who is a slave. She says, “She watches as the women get helped into their carriages, lifted over ditches and to have the best place anywhere” (Sojourner Truth). She continues to explain how she never gets the same treatment but lives with it. The Crucible has a lot of examples of selflessness in it. Mary Warren is a good example of being selfless. When she was brought into court she was going to confess to being a witch but lied to save the reputation of the other girls.

On the other hand we have self-centeredness. Abigail Williams is a great example of that. She was vindictive only cared about herself. She ruined the lives around her because she accused them of witchcraft. Abigail and John Proctor had an affair, and Abigail was jealous of John’s wife Elizabeth, and she would stop at nothing to get Elizabeth killed so she stepped out of the picture so Abby could be with John. All of these examples truly show what characteristics it takes to make a just society. You will always need equality, tolerance, and selflessness. The Crucible showed us how our own feelings can get in between what is right and what is wrong. Helen Keller showed us the importance of tolerance.

To be more open minded and just accept the ideas and views of others even if you don’t really agree. Compromise. Lastly Ain’t I a Woman, by Sojourner Truth showed us the importance of equality. To be on the same level as everyone else, no one is better or worse. We are all simply equally, no matter the race, ethnicity, or religion.