How Does The Crucible, The Pursuit Of Happiness and the song "Numb" by Linkin Park link to the free verse novel The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick?

Great question!

First, I see
obvious similarities between “Numb” and The Crucible. Conformity,
religious dogma and stubborn tradition rule Salem. There is no room for thinking outside
the box or any kind of individualism in a town so strictly governed by mindless
adherence to their (hypocritical) religious ways. This loss of individuality is
analogous to the feeling of numbness in the Linkin Park song. If individuality or a
general sense of self is not there or not acknowledged by others (Salem) or another
person ("Numb"), it doesn’t exist. It is numb. The conformity in Salem is analogous to
the undertow in “Numb.” When you are forced to conform to a role society has prescribed
for you (Salem) or the way someone wants you to be (“Numb”), you lose the sense of your
genuine self. “I’m becoming this all I want to do/Is be more like me and less like
you."

The Simple Gift and
The Pursuit of Happiness are about self-reliance and the ability of
the individual to overcome external forces, historical forces and the inequalities of
being born into difficult situations. Both stories romanticize the individual hero, the
underdog who makes a better life for himself through struggle and determination. In
The Simple Gift, it is Billy who escapes a bad family situation and
comes to rely upon himself for survival.  In Anne Roiphe’s book, The Pursuit
of Happiness, the Gruenbaum family struggles against historical forces and
their struggle leads to a journey of successes and
failures.

Billy (the individual) and the Gruenbaum family
all struggle against outside forces to survive and pursue happiness. It is because they
refuse to conform, refuse to sit passively by or get “caught in the undertow” of their
situation that they are able to survive and pursue better
lives.

Billy and the Gruenbaum family represent what the
speaker in “Numb” wishes he could do and what the individuals in Salem should have done:
change their situation, even if it means leaving the situation they are used
to.

If you are referring to the film, The Pursuit
of Happyness, the same thing applies. This (true) story is also about the
struggle of the individual. The pursuit of happiness is the struggle
itself.