Sunday, January 31, 2010
Blog question #9
9. Consider Carol’s most serious accusation: “You tried to rape me. According to the law. . . . You tried to rape me. I was leaving this office, you “pressed” yourself into me. You “pressed” your body into me. . . . under the statute. I am told. It was battery. . . . Yes. And attempted rape. That’s right” (728). Discuss your reaction to this accusation. As you do, consider carefully Carol’s addition of “according to the law”. Is she, at some or any level, in the right? Is John right to be undone by this accusation? I feel that Carol is only right on the fact that John did grab her to keep her from leaving his office. She told him that she was going to leave and when he could not convince her to stay he forcefully grabs her to keep her from exiting his office. As for Carol's accusation of rap, I think that was just a tactic to get John worked up, so he would come unhinged. This statement "Yes, according to the law.... You tried to rape me" is Carol saying no, I don't feel you tried to rape me but the law states that you did and I am going to press charges on you despite the truth. It seems to me that her "According to the law" statement is a way to get another fight out of John! Yes, in a small way John was right to be angry about the HUGE accusation of rap, he was just keeping her against her will. NOT THAT IT WAS RIGHT! This play was bad, it was so back and forth that at no real point was either party in the wrong at all. She does something, he does something! It is a very off the way play that I would never want to go see.
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I am going to say I have to disagree with you completely. I am speaking from personal experience here! No one has the right to forcefully make you do anything. Whether his intentions were to calm her down or otherwise, he should have just let her go and calmed down. He completely overstepped his boundaries when he grabbed her and whether the accusations were going to be taken into court or otherwise; he only escalated the situation even more by grabbing her. But I do agree that the play was back and forth on that each of them was going deeper into something horrible but I believe John should have been the bigger guy and just let her go. Even if she her accusation of rape went onto damage him, there was no proof in it that he did rape her. He had nothing to worry about but he just escalated the situation and honestly brought it upon himself.
ReplyDeleteJbarilone, I agree with what you had to say. Carol's choice of words, "...according to the law," and, "...so I am told," made it obvious that she was taking advantage of sexual harassment laws. Those laws were set in place to protect people from when it really does happen, not to make a mockery of our justice system. But, that is exactly what happened in this case. Carol saw an opportunity and ran with it.
ReplyDeleteSLamkin, I agree in that nobody has the right to force you to do something, and yes, John did overstep his boundaries as the professional in the student-teacher relationship. He was in no way right by physically touching her, ever. But to go as far as to say that John had nothing to worry about is pretty bold. Whether the accusation proved true or not, it's a statement that could potentially cost him everything he has and damage his life completely. I'm certainly not defending John's reactions to the accusation - or even his actions prior to the accusation - but I can understand why he was so incredibly angry with Carol in the end of the play. Whether he instigated her false claims or not, they were just that - false.
I completely agree with you about your view about the rape accusation. John grabbing her I think out of desperation and frustration (for all her false claims). She clearly had a motive of why she was there which is why she documented every word he said. Accusing him of attempted rape was spiteful and honestly wrong she wanted more than his help she want the curriculum changed and his book to be terminated.
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