The Dramatic Presentation of Truth, Justice and Morality in The Crucible

The Dramatic Presentation of Truth, Justice and Morality in The Crucible

"The Crucible" is essentially a story about witchcraft, but the one

key theme which occurs throughout the play and plays a fundamental

part in it, is justice. A large proportion of the play is actually set

in court, the "house of justice", which is a very symbolic way of

showing its importance. Normally in every day life, the judge of the

court is the person who brings out the justice in the cases brought

forwards, but in "The Crucible" it is not always clear if this is the

case; sometimes it even seems to be the other way round. Often there

are times when pivotal characters such as John Proctor will question

Judge Hathorn or Deputy Governor Danforth's decisions and reasoning,

and sometimes even the verdict, and the reader will see that in a lot

of these cases, the two most powerful and influential men in the town

are often in the wrong. This does not say a lot for the justice system

in place in Salem.

A prime example of this is in Act Two, when the authorities are trying

to arrest Elizabeth for having a needle in a poppet in her house,

because of something Abigail Williams has said. John becomes angry and

says, "why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is

the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as

God's fingers?" This is a very good argument, and one which the reader

feels grateful to John for pointing out. It is a long running error in

the play, that infuriates the reader, to think that the only people

with enough power to put things right seem completely oblivious to the

fact that they are missing the blindingly ob...

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...were hunted like the

witches in Salem, and made to name other communists to prove they had

abandoned their left wing views. Many fell to McCarthyism, but a few

stood up for their beliefs - Arthur Miller being one of them. This is

reflected in John Proctor throughout the play, and both men share the

same thoughts and morals. It is obvious that Miller really wanted to

put across the idea of being an individual, and standing up for what

you believe in, and to show the irony of how unjust the justice system

really was in those days, and still is in some places. It is clear he

was very passionate about these things, and it really comes across in

this play - just the words are enough to give a good impression of

what he is trying to show, and builds up an image of each of the

characters which the reader can really relate to.