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Identity In The Crucible And The Scarlet Letter

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Michael Ignatieff once stated, “To belong is to understand the tacit codes of the people you live with.” In today’s society, group identity is often craved by all and highly prized once obtained because by most standards, a person is defined by their social standing, which is a common theme throughout literature such as The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. To thoroughly understand Ignatieff’s statement, “to belong is to understand the tacit codes of the people you live with”, one must determine what the word, belong, means. According to the Webster-Merriam dictionary, to belong means to fit in a specified place or environment or to have the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group. But how can someone truly

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