More handpicked essays just for you.
What is the historical significance of the crucible
The crucible by arther miller context
An essay over the crucible
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
In society, high beings were and are now still idolized. People that dedicated their lives as agents to these figures abide to certain rules in order fall under their standard of ‘purity’; to live free of sin. Nevertheless, in these unethical societies where religion was more influential than logical reasoning, people feared to be labeled as sinners and used religion in order to obscure around reality. Both Miller’s The Crucible and Kristof’s “Extended Forecast: Bloodshed”, despite subtle differences, exemplify how fear and uncertainness can overpower the minds of people; causing them to think as well as act irrationally.
Correspondingly, Miller’s The Crucible and Kristof’s “Extended Forecast: Bloodshed” do not fail to display the people's’
…show more content…
fear of supernatural entities and their rapid decision to jump to conclusions. “Don‘t you understand it, sir? There is a murdering witch among us bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more.” (cusd80, 4). As Reverend Hale, Parris, Putnam and the others converse about the condemned acts committed in the forest, the suggestion of witchcraft comes into play. Rather than being tolerant to the other possibilities, the fragility of their religious beliefs induces fear of malicious, supernatural entities. Their fear that is also shared amongst the citizens of Salem. The spread of the rumors of witchcraft causes fanaticism within the community, leading up to the blaming of the Devil to protect their reputations from being tainted. This concept can also be applied to the situation among the citizens of Tasmania and other poor, impoverished nations; “There is abundant evidence that economic stress and crop failures — as climate scientists anticipate in poor countries — can lead to violence and upheavals.” (New York Times). As these poor nations constantly exposed to drastic changes in weather, they cannot properly interpret these changes through science. With the lack of exposure to proper education, the persecution stems from strong cultural ties and beliefs that lead to irrational points of views. Ultimately, fear is what motivates the acts of both the Tasmanian and Salem people. Despite both of these societies revolving around the fear of witchcraft, the reactions of the citizens in both the article and play evidently depict their differentiating ethics.
In The Crucible, fingers are consistently being pointed at one another. Fearing harm and penalization, the characters are swift to distort the truth. “I want to open myself!...I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (cusd80, 15). Abigail worries desperately about the possibility of receiving punishment for having caught casting charms and dancing with her friends in the forest. Tituba’s confession offers an example of scapegoating, and Abigail extends onto it. She “admits” her affiliation with the Devil, and according to the people of Salem, means that she has redeemed her loyalty to God and becomes free of sin. Then, as the next step in removing herself from sin, she accuses others of being witches, thus shifting the burden of shame off her hands to those she names. Kristoff’s “Extended Forecast: Bloodshed”, on the other hand, depicts the illogical reasoning for punishment of elderly women in Tasmania. “He believes that if climate change causes more drought years in Tanzania, the result will be more elderly women executed there and in other poor countries that still commonly attack supposed witches.”(New York Times). Here it demonstrates the correlation between climate change, such as drought, and the punishment of elderly women in Tasmania. It is conspicuous that those in Tasmania, fear that these supposed witches are the cause of poor weather conditions. The current weather and climate may devastate crops and ultimately affect the lives of the greater Tasmanian community, thus, a country with such beliefs must resort to such measures if they believe that it would protect
their people rather than for their individual benefit. Man—using his brain—invented all these religious beings, doing so because most of our species cannot accept or control their personal egos, feeling necessitated to conjure up figures who can act without guilt or obstacle upon desires and impulses. All Gods are thus externalized and heightened forms of the true nature of their creators, epitomizing aspects of the universe or personal temperaments in which many of their followers find troubling. Nevertheless as time passes, the people of Salem feel remorseful and have awareness of their ancestors wrongdoings to innocent lives while Tasmania continues to persecute due to their failure to progress their perspectives.
The focus of Miller’s The Crucible is an appalling witch trial that morfs the once-peaceful town of Salem into a cutthroat slaughterhouse. As a lucrative playwright and a not-so-subtle allegory author, Miller is a seasoned wordsmith who addresses people akin to himself, and is not secretive about that information. The Crucible best serves its purpose as a learning device and a social statement, especially at the time of its publishing. Miller‘s piece showcases the appeals in an easy-to-identify manner that is perfect for middle or high school students who are new to the appeals, or for English majors who have no problem pinpointing them, making this play ideal for a classroom setting.
The tragic tale of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts was re-written by Arthur Miller in the form of the play “The Crucible”. The trials have been studied to figure out what really happened, but no one will ever know since it happened decades ago. The play is the closest reenactment we have to help us see how people could have reacted to life. “The Crucible” shows how using others as a cushion to keep from being punished can go extremely bad. Amidst all the chaos a man by the name Reverend John Hale came to help but ended up with making it a huge amount worse.
The Crucible. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Eds. Kylene Beers and Lee Odell. Orlando: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2007.
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
Since everyone was on the lookout for witches and knew the punishment, no one wanted to be accused. An example from the play would be when Abigail says, “I want to open myself! I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (Miller 50) !! This quote portrays the fear and hysteria affecting the behavior of the children and alters their decisions to confess. Accusations played a major role in The Crucible in attempts to take the attention away from themselves. These accusations put a damper on finding the main roots of the problem; finding out the residents involvements with the
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is set in Salem village where an atmosphere of enmity and mistrust has been created through the conflicts and disagreements many villagers experience throughout the play. Many of these are caused by or, similar to the conflict between Parris and Proctor, are inflated by the many accusations of witchcraft occurring in the village.
Scheidt, Jennifer L., and Denis M. Calandra. “CliffsNotes on The Crucible.” CliffsNotes.com. CliffsNotes. 2010. Web. 18 Sep 2011.
The witch hunt in the crucible is initiated when Abigail and her friends fear the consequences of their ‘dancing’ in the forest. This connects to McCarthyism as the HUAC is represented by the judges and the ‘accuses’ (the girls) are representatives of Elia Kazan and others like him. The theocratic society of Salem is what the girls fear as the forest is seen as the devils resting place and the puritan nature of the town forbid dancing as it was seen as ‘vain enjoyment’ which as Miller himself states at the beginning of the novel to not be allowed. The character of Mary Warren begs the girls to just admit they were dancing as “…you’ll only be whipped for dancin’…”, but as Abigail is questioned and Parris mentions the kettle and how he believed “…there to be some movement- in the soup…”, the devil becomes prominent in the conversation. This is due to Abigail fearing that she will be blamed for devil worshipp...
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
hysteria brought about by the witchcraft scare in The Crucible leads to the upheaval in people’s differentiation between right and wrong, fogging their sense of true justice.
One of the most prominent themes in Arthur Miller’s 1953 drama, The Crucible, is the use of role reversals within race and gender boundaries, social status, and superficial power. In the not-so-sleepy town of Salem, Massachusetts, the rumor of witches among the community runs rampant as various characters work to accuse their fellow citizens of witchery or defend their neighbors from the gallows. Driven by jealously and pure hatred, those who have minor roles within the community lust after a more notable place in society by accusing the more distinguished members to rid them of their land, wealth, or reputation – and even their life. Those wrongfully accused are driven by fear as they either admit their guilt to save their own lives or find someone else to blame for the supposed crime. In turn, this causes the well-known citizens to be reduced to their salt and the minor townsfolk to gain a certain type of fame or air about themselves. The turn of tables proves to benefit certain female characters with minor roles and damage the more notable male characters within the community.
In the well known novel “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, hysteria is exposed from its roots within the courts of Salem with shocking confessions and accusations. 2. Miller uses vivid descriptions of, “...black mischiefs” and, “...a misty coldness climbin’ up my back and the skin on my skull begin to creep…” to paint the odd displays in court that are responsible for the hysteria throughout Salem. 3. Miller sets up a scene of chaos and panic in order to foreshadow the extreme measures townspeople will commit in order to end this period of oddity. 4. “The Crucible” displays how easily a normal town can be transformed into a place of hangings and false
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.
Authority in a society is a necessary evil which, when unfettered, results in the abuse of power. Power has long been considered a corrupting and a disrupting force in function and in influence. Underlying motives and greed fuel those who seek to gain and or abuse this power. The Crucible examines this twisted force as it corrupts societies’ clergy, blinds its justices, and empowers those who seek to abuse it. Arthur Miller shows how power can be a corrupting influence and how it can blind the judgment of authoritative figures.