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Throughout history, marginalized groups in society undergo pressure to survive constant debilitation from firm-believing, close-minded majorities. Often, the opinions of those attacked are silenced by the cries of hatred, regardless of which side is correct. In The Crucible, the witch hunt causes people, who are commonly considered good, to turn on their innocent townsmen as mob mentality and pretense determine the actions of the masses be viewed as comrades with the devil because of the mass pressure from the population. A modern day reality of this exists as groups blame the entirety of Muslims for the actions of a few radicals following the bombing of the twin towers.
Many parallels between the events that happen in The Crucible and real life anti-Islam ideals are evident. Just as one
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event, Parris discovering the girls dancing in the woods, sparked the trials and hangings, one event, airplanes crashing into the twin towers, started the wave of anti-Islam.
After both incidents, chaos followed as leaders tried to think of the best route to take in dealing with the aftermath. In both situations, panic consumed the population, and in the case of The Crucible, neighbors announced they had seen interactions with the devil by other townspeople, a falsehood that the courts blindly pursued. Similarly, America began a “witch hunt” to find the main actors in 9/11 and bring them to justice. Ever since then, Muslims have been viewed with an air of danger and worry. This is evident by “random searches” in airports that are seen to continuously target Muslim-Americans. Of course, not everyone holds all Muslims accountable for the events of 9/11.
Instead, many people realize that only a few within this broad religion were participants in this tragedy. In The Crucible, some townspeople, such as Proctor, acknowledged that witchcraft and its participants were all pretense and were able to identify the actual issue at hand. Across the country, occurrences of fires and vandalization to mosques are evident. As the admittance of witchcraft was used in an attempt to eradicate townsmen of their land, this targeting of places of worship is done to intimidate Muslims from what the xenophobic view as their personal land. Though many similarities do exist between the “witches” and real Muslims, there are differences between the two. The treatment of those accused of dealings with the devil are definitely more abrupt than those that are of Muslim religion. One example is how Giles Corey was crushed beneath the weight of stones for not giving himself up as a wizard. In modern day, the only persecution muslims face is living as second class citizens and being subject to debilitating opinions of others. No person is put to death. Another contrast would be the usage of these tags as name-calling. Any townsman wanting property or revenge on another could call him a witch in trial and immediately place the second person in a similar situation. Calling any person Muslim who is not actually Muslim would not be derogatory but would instead show the bigotry of the first. This demonstrates the slowly expanding open-mindedness of the nation. Another stark contrast exists between the reactions of heads leading both situations. On one hand in, The Crucible even when the obviousness of Abigail’s lies are seen, Danforth continues hanging the accused. On the other hand, authorities work to protect Muslims under the extent of the law and Constitution. Overall, the victims in The Crucible faced worse circumstances compared to Muslims in America, but this does not lessen strife Muslims face daily. Both groups retain their “goodness” by denying succumbence to public pressure to join the majorities.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, describes the hysteria that took place during the witch trials. The Crucible shows us how manipulation can easily cause human minds to support and condone a terrible tragedy like that of the witch trials. The Red Scare, meaning the fear of communism, took hold in America during the Cold War and caused a very similar kind of hysteria, thus, making events like these seemingly repeatable and not as rare as hoped. Moreover, this frenzy described in the play is one expected to repeat itself throughout American history.
The world revolves around hysteria, paranoia, and accusations. All three behaviors can be seen throughout history and everyone has at least felt or acted upon it. There were many different historical events that caused it. Many include the Holocaust, the McCarthyism, the Red Scare, and 9/11. All were such horrific and sorrowful events that unfortunately occurred. These all relate to The Crucible in a particular way. An event that I found interest in is 9/11. In the drama The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the story portrays how there was fear and accusations throughout the play. The Puritans and the Islamic culture were so quite alike it’s comparable. Lots of Puritan people (especially women) feared of being falsely accused of being witches and
In the article “Modern-Day Witch Hunts”, Jamie Dailey focuses the attention on problems that Muslim Americans commonly face on a day-to-day basis. He first paints a picture by comparing the violent acts performed on Muslims to the Salem Witch trial in 1692. The Salem Witch trials resulted in 19 deaths of innocent individuals, because they were accused of witchcraft. Dailey goes on to explain in America, the type of persecution Muslims endure has many forms. A more recent controversy towards this religion involves the building of the Ground Zero Mosque in central New York. The name of this building is very misleading, especially to the eyes of an American. Even though this structure is actually built a few blocks away from where the former World Trade Center stood, problems have still risen from the public. Americans often mistake Muslims as the group of people who had performed acts of terrorism on American soil, when it was actually an Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Mosques all across the United States started being vandalized by people protesting against their religion. This article shows how irrational fear can corrupt the thoughts of people.
9/11 is a horrific moment in history, and is well recognized for it’s spawn of mass hysteria in America. Because of this, The Crucible and 9/11 are highly similar in that both situations caused people to become so fearful and paranoid to the point where they began to treat others unfairly, and become more vulnerable/gullible to people’s selfish schemes. In the Crucible, the people of Salem wished for there to be safety in their town and in their religion. However the fear of witchcraft interfered with that, causing a mass hysteria to flood throughout the town. They began to point fingers. It also caused them to be vulnerable. hence becoming more gullible. These same situations happened to America after 9/11 occurred.
Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller ‘You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor.’ Assess the developments in John Proctor’s character that validate this statement. How does Miller create a sense of tension and suspense in the build up to this climatic moment in Act 4? In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible he has used many dramatic devices in order to create tension and build up to the climaxes of the story.
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the madness of the Salem witch trials is explored in great detail. There are many theories as to why the witch trials came about, the most popular of which is the girls' suppressed childhoods. However, there were other factors as well, such as Abigail Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors held against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village.
Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others.
“We do not learn from our mistakes so our tendencies have remained the same throughout time” (Kruempelstaedter). The similarities between 9/11 and The Crucible is that they both were accused of crimes. In Salem nobody knew when they would be accused, and in New York no one knew when another attack would happen. There were stereotypes against the accused witches and the Muslims. People were abused if anyone knew about any information and would not speak. Violence and public humiliation came about after accusations were made. Friends and families were destroyed by both situations.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
My movie research essay is on The Crucible directed by Nicholas Hytner. The Crucible is about the Salem Witch trials that happened in Massachusetts. My argument is that the negative and often evil portrayal of women at the time period of Puritan New England was a main component in the Salem Witch Trials which The Crucible shows an example of. To put The Crucible in broader context, I read “Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England” by Elizabeth Reis and will use its main points to back up my thesis.
A wise human once stated, “People are quick to believe the bad things they hear about good people”(Unknown). Bound by the nature of humans, many are hasty to believe inaccurate accounts, no matter the circumstances, whether the accounts have evidence, or if they have any veracity to them. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, the hysteric citizens of Salem, Massachusetts experience an outrageous witch hunt movement, accumulating a hefty death total of twenty citizens. The play begins with Reverend Parris, a relatively new Puritan minister in Salem, whose daughter, Betty Parris, is stuck in a coma-like state. Parris reveals that his niece Abigail, was seen dancing with Betty, and Tituba, Parris’ black slave from Barbados. Concerned about his reputation,
Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil.
The Crucible is an incredibly influential play no only in the fact that it displays many important themes, but it also portrays how a theocracy impacts societal actions. The Salem witch trials were the culmination of the problems with theocracy. The actions of society, not only are impacted by their personal thoughts, but also in religious undertones affect them. Act two in the play portrays not only all of these themes, but also some important events leading towards the witchcraft hysteria. Act two in the play portrays how theocracy ultimately leads to chaos.
All of these are examples of modern-day witch hunts. Everything from racial actions towards certain people, to the hunting down of terrorist and dictators, to the actual witch hunts in the third world countries. Just like in the play The Crucible people use fear as a primary weapon. Knowing some ones fear is like having a finger on the button to destroy the world. Everyone will do what you want if you know how to use their fear.