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How does the crucible relate to courage, weakness, and truth
Characters and characterisation of the crucible
The actual salem witch trials and the crucible
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In a life and death situation, one can learn a lot about people. What will they do? Will they stand up for what's right even though they might die? Will they go against what is right to save their own life? Instances like these have a lot to do with courage. Courage can be defined as the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, without fear; bravery. In life one will be faced with very difficult and challenging obstacles; how one deals with these obstacles and conquers them is greatly reflected by the amount of one's courage. In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible a lot of people were faced with great challenges. Only a few stood up for what's right even though it might result in their death.
The history of the Salem Witch Trials began in the spring of 1692 after a group of girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil and accused several women of witchcraft, which started a great hysteria throughout the village of Salem (“Salem”). Salem was a Puritan village, meaning that religion played a huge role in their society, even in their courts. When these girls, led by Abigail, said they were possessed and there were witches in their village, it caused a great panic among the people. As a result of the panic, people wanted all the “witches” to be hanged. About twenty
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people were executed, and three died in prisons. Not all of those that were accused of witchcraft were executed; they had a choice to admit to witchcraft and have their soul cleansed. In light of this, then why would a person confess if he or she could be spared? If one confessed, it would ruin their life and the family’s life as well. Many would lose their jobs and homes. Not only that, one’s name is blackened. One’s children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren would be affected in a negative way because they would still be judged by society. Not everyone was confessed to save his or her own life; a few stood up for the truth and what is right. Such a person was John Proctor. In the play, John Proctor is farmer, has a wife and children, and is the protagonist. Late in the play, John Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail. Instead of being a coward and confessing to witchcraft, John faces the truth courageously. He also was willing to challenge the court and all legal and religious leaders when he told them that they were not seeing the truth about the accusations of witchcraft. So instead of confessing to witchcraft he stood his ground, and said he would rather die an honest man than a lying one (Miller 143). In the end, John is hanged. He was able to protect his family’s name, and his wife and children were able to live on and not have their name blackened. Not only did John Proctor show courage, but so did Giles Corey.
Giles was told to tell the court the name of the man Putnam told him. Giles refused. He did not want to bring harm to anyone else so Giles stood strong and did not say a word. Instead of hanging, though, they placed stones on top of him, one at a time, until told he told the court the name of the man. Giles never did. He remained steadfast in the truth. In act four of the play Elizabeth described his death as “[g]reat stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. With a tender smile for the old man: They say he give them but two words. ‘More weight,’ he says. And died” (Miller
135). Reverend Hale also showed courage at the end of the play. After he found out that all of these people he indirectly killed because of witchcraft were all innocent, he could no longer be part of the court. In the play the Reverend pleads, “It’s a lie! They are innocent” (Miller 132). It was a high court, with ruling judges, and to quit would be a blow to his reputation and career. He simply could not be part of something so corrupt. Many would argue that Reverend Hale was courageous. In the second act of the play, Reverend stood by while Elizabeth got accused of witchcraft. He knew she was innocent but he chose to not stand up because he was scared of what that could mean for the court. A courageous man would not do that. Even though he made a few mistakes during the play, in the end, he stood up and took a stand for what was right. Not all run away from adversaries; some will stand up with courage and face the challenge that is at hand. In The Crucible, John died to protect his family’s name; Giles Corey was crushed under stones because he would not give the court the name of an innocent man; and Reverend Hale stepped down from having so much power because what he stood for was wrong, and he could not be a false symbol. At the end of everything—a book, a play, or even one’s life—one will be faced with a very challenging obstacle. Some will turn around and go against what is right, and some will face it whole heartedly. Depending on the situation, the true person’s character will be revealed.
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, both pride and excessive pride influence the characters throughout the play. Pride is a sense of one's dignity and worth. Excessive pride is being overly confident of one's own self worth. Throughout, pride influences the actions, reactions, and emotions of the characters in such ways to establish the outcome of the story. Three characters are impelled by their pride. Hale, who takes pride in his ability to detect witchcraft; Elizabeth Proctor, whose pride makes forgiving her husband difficult; Proctor, whose excessive pride causes him to overlook reality and the truth.
Based on the Merriam Webster dictionary, courage is defined as the,“mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” In the play, the characters are tested and forced to make life or death decisions, with
The Salem Witch Trials were a series of prosecutions of men and women who were accused of practicing witchcraft or having associations with the devil. The first Salem witch trial began with two girls in 1692, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams, who started to have “fits”, in which they would throw tantrums and have convulsions. The random outburst of the girls threw the town of Salem into a mass of hysteria. Although historians have not found a definite reason or cause for the witch trials, they have taken different approaches to explain the hysteria that took over Salem. Some historians approach a psychological theory by proposing the girls suffered from diseases that made them act out.
...n whether to confess to witchcraft or not. His unwillingness to sign his name to the confession is because of his desire not to dishonor his fellow prisoners’ decisions to stand firm.
likelihood of victory is small.” It is a person’s mental or moral strength to resist extreme
The Crucible by Arthur Miller The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in American history surrounding the Salem witch trials of the seventeenth century, yet is as much a product of the time in which Arthur Miller wrote it, the early 1950s, as it is description of Puritan society. At that particular time in the 1950s, when Arthur Miller wrote the play the American Senator McCarthy who chaired the ‘House Un-American Activities Committee’ was very conscious of communism and feared its influence in America. It stopped authors’ writings being published in fear of them being socialist sympathisers. Miller was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and that human beings were capable of such madness. In the 1950s the audience would have seen the play as a parallel between the McCarthy trials and the Salem Trials.
...in their family to become sick and possibly die. Many people were accused of witchcraft. More than twenty people died all together. One person was flattened to death because he was accused of witchcraft. When people were accused they had to go to jail, which the conditions were terrible. Then, they had to get a trial from the Court of Oyer and Terminer. After an accused witch had their trial, and went to jail, they would be carted off to Gallows Hill. This was the hill where all the witches were hanged. After a witch was hanged, later that night, their family would usually take the body down and give it a proper burial. The Salem Witchcraft Trials were one of the most terrible times in the history of America. As you can see the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
Witchcraft has been present in many other religions, not only the Puritan religion. Witchcraft was also found in Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe. The Salem Witch Trials were smaller in comparison to those in Scotland, France, or Germany (Hall 3). Though the trials in Salem were smaller, people recognize the Salem Witch Trials as one of the worst times in American history (“Witch Madness” 4). The Puritans believed that the Devil was alive in their community (“Witch Madness” 2). The accusations started in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts when young Puritan girls were found using magic. The Salem Witch Trials began when Betty Paris, Abigail Williams, and some of their friends began to act strange with odd fits (Hall 1). Because many mental and emotional disorders were not understood, the people of Salem believed it was the work of witchcraft. When sickness or even misfortune came, the most
Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.
The Salem Witch Trials were a time in history where people were wrongly accused of being witches. In the spring of 1692 the Salem witch trials began. During the trials women were wrongly accused of being witches. When accused of being a witch they were tortured, tested, put on trial, and most of the time executed if not put in jail. The townspeople tortured the accused witches in the most inhumane ways. This was a very dark and eerie time for the Puritans in Salem, Massachusetts (P., Shaunak).
Many years ago, the culture and atmosphere was amazingly different. The expectations of people and communities are extremely high. During the Puritan times, many laws and regulations existed pertaining to government, religion, and witchcraft. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the one word that best describes the Puritan beliefs and the community structure is strict.
The Salem Witch Trials took place in the summer and into the fall of the year 1692, and during this dark time of American history, over 200 people had been accused of witchcraft and put in jail. Twenty of these accused were executed; nineteen of them were found guilty and were put to death by hanging. One refused to plead guilty, so the villagers tortured him by pressing him with large stones until he died. The Salem Witch Trials was an infamous, scary time period in American history that exhibited the amount of fear people had of the devil and the supernatural; the people of this time period accused, arrested, and executed many innocent people because of this fear, and there are several theories as to why the trials happened (Brooks).
The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is about the Salem witch trials and how people react to hysteria created from the fear of witches. In the play, after hysteria breaks out, the Salem government starts persecute and hang people it believes are witches. This prompts people to start to accusing people of witchcraft. Some people who accuse others of committing witchcraft are Abigail Williams and Thomas Putnam. They do not accuse people of witchcraft to stop witchcraft, but for personal gain or to hurt others. Thomas Putnam, one of the many characters who takes advantage of the witch trials, is able to use the fear of witches to bend the court to his will. Hysteria causes people to believe claims that are clearly false. This allows Putnam to persecute his enemies. He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another.