"The greatest grieves are those we cause
ourselves", this statement means our sorrow is caused by ourselves not by
other people. I agree with this statement. In life, if you don't bother other people,
other people wouldn't bother you. This statement is exemplified in both drama
plays "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald and "The
Crucible" by Arthur Miller.
In "The Crucible" the author
used setting, conflict and characterization to support the statement. In the play, John Proctor, one of the main
characters, was having an affair with Abigail (a predominantly young girl).
When the witch-hunt trial took place in Salem of 1692, Abigail accused many innocent
people and caused them to be hanged to die. The conflict between Abigail and
Proctor is that Proctor refused being together with Abigail, which led to the
accusation of Elizabeth being a witch by Abigail. As the result of this tragedy
Proctor's wife Elizabeth put in jail and brought to trial.
In "The Great Gatsby" the
author used characterization, conflict and irony, to support the statement. In
this play, Jay Gatsby, a wealthy thirty years old man, who fall in love with
Daisy. Both of them love each other very much, at that time Gatsby was poor and
he needed to go to war. Before Gatsby came back from the war and became rich,
Daisy married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby wanted to win Daisy back, so he used his
wealthy and devoted his time to build a mansion just like the one that Daisy
used to live in. He built the mansion just because he hope one day Daisy would
see his house and know how wealthy he is and hoping Daisy would came back to
him. At the end, Daisy didn't get back together with him, but he led himself to
the death road. At the end of the play, Gatsby was killed by a poor man Wilson.
As you can see, both drama plays show
that people's sorrows are caused by themselves not by other people. As if
Gatsby didn't go back and wanted to get back together with Daisy, then he
wouldn't get killed and wasted his time. If Proctor didn't have an affair with
Abigail and refused being together with her then Abigail wouldn't be mad and
seeking for revenge. As the result, his wife wouldn't put on trial. If both of
them change their path, then they would get a totally different result.