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Crucible Essay - Ezra Loeb Throughout a persons life, the need to make someone aware of something may present itself numerous times. As is shown in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, there is a right way and a wrong way to do so. The concept of intervention arises several times throughout the play. An example of this is Rebecca’s attempts to intervene in and stop the Putnams sinning. However, Rebecca does not do this outright. She decides to place subtle hints throughout there conversation. This frustrates the Putnams. Due to this, when Rebecca hints to the Putnams that they have sinned, tension is created which ultimately leads to accusation of Rebecca as a witch. When Rebecca encounters the Putnams at Paris’s house, she begins to hint …show more content…
This is shown when she says “let us go to God for the cause of it.” She does not go near accusing anyone specific. Rebecca only subtly suggests that someone, not necessarily, but possibly the Putnams, may have sinned. As the context of this quote is people trying to find the cause of the perils in Salem, by saying this, Rebecca further subtly suggests that it is this sinning which causes the perils in Salem. However, after saying this, Rebecca dances into the realm of a more direct, yet still not outright accusation. Rebecca knows that she has a reputation of being someone who would never sin. So when Rebecca says “Let us rather blame ourselves,” both she and the Putnams really know that she is truly saying “you, the Putnams, have sinned and have caused the perils in Salem.” Rebecca is fairly certain that this is correct. However she still has no absolute conformation. Outright confrontation is frowned upon in Puritan society. This is why Rebecca does not outright accuse the Putnams of sinning and causing the perils in Salem. In a Puritan community it would be dangerous to directly accuse a fellow unless the validity of the accusation is know for certain. However, after Ann admits to sending her child to make Tituba conjure her dead children, Rebecca becomes confident that the Putnams have sinned and that they have caused the perils in Salem. The text
The Crucible was a rather strong book, it had battles both internal and external, there were also betrayals and vendettas… but a few stuck strong to their morals of what was wrong, and what was right. After the girl’s acts were, undoubtedly, in the eyes of the law, seen as entirely real, people who would not otherwise have been accused of witchcraft were now eligible to be under Satan’s spell. One John Proctor, saw himself above the nonsense, that witches could not exist in Salem, his wife, his children nor him; But, when Mary Warren said to the court that he used his spirit to drag her into court to testify against the girls, the judges deemed her word more truthful than his. After actively and repeatedly denying the claims, he was sentenced to death, for only a witch could lie in the face of god.
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is centered around the mass hysteria created by accusations of witchcraft in the Puritan village of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. These accusations can be blamed on Abigail Williams' affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors hold against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village. Because suspicions were at an all-time high, petty accusations were made out to be witchcraft, and bad business deals were blamed on witchery. Among the grudges that help spur the resentment and hostility in the village is one between Giles Corey and Thomas Putnam, who argue about a plot of land and its ownership. Once the accusations begin, everyone has a reason to accuse someone else of witchcraft. When Putnam's daughter accuses George Jacobs of witchery, Corey quickly notices a motive and claims that Putnam only wants Jacobs' land. Additionally, even the slightest offhand remark can result in the suspicion of one working with the devil. In another example of hasty accusations, Giles Corey casually mentions that when his wife is reading, he is unable to say his prayers. However, Reverend Hale takes Giles’ claims the wrong way and Martha Corey is quickly arrested and convicted for witchcraft. In Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible, Giles Corey often announces his feelings without considering the consequences, but redeems himself by refusing to allow the defamation of one of his friends while keeping his property and dignity intact.
A person’s character can have a lot of influences in weather or not they can maintain their morals. In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem, Massachusetts Bay Colony is taken over by witch trials. They are started by young girls who accuse people of being witches in order to avoid getting into trouble for having been caught dancing naked in the woods. Reverend Hale, who is considered an expert in witches, is called in to assist the courts with the trials and give his opinion on the severity of the situation. At first he believes these cases are true, however he changes his opinion when the credibility of the accusers come into question, and he also denounces the courts proceedings. Various townspeople believe that the girls are lying, and some people try to stand up to them but end up being accused of being a witch and dying. The internal struggles of the character play a large part in determining whether or not they will be successful or not in standing up to the girls, and if they will be able to maintain their morals. Two of the people who stood up to the girls are Mary Warren and Reverend John Hale; Reverend Hale was able to maintain his morals by looking at the situation for a neutral prospective and going by the facts, whereas Mary Warren, a girl who was one of the accusers, was unable to successfully maintain her morals and stop the unjust trials because she was fearful of the other girls, she is self-centered, and she had no confidence.
Is there any idea worth more than a human life? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor decides that he has nothing left to live for, and therefore becomes a martyr. The question for him or one in his position would be whether or not there exist causes worth dying for and if his position is one such case. There is no principle worth more than a person’s life and therefore principles worth dying for, only principles worth living for.
Politicians have capitalized on their power of persuasion on sway voters in one direction or the other. However, only the truly educated individual may navigate through a sea of logical fallacies in search of the truth. In literature as in life, figureheads make decisions that not only affect themselves but those around them. These decisions may conjure up characteristics of self sacrifice or selfish, self-serving power moves. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible tells the story of a group of teenage girls who do witchcraft in a religious town and blame innocent people for their actions. The town then begins to fall under mad hysteria and the lies told kill the innocent. Select Characters, inspired by real people,
A crucible is a severe test as of patients or belief, a trial. The play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by the superstitious belief of witchcraft. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller progresses and evolves the outlooks and views of the townspeople of Salem and shows how events, people, and catastrophes cause the characters to change their views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. Reverend John Hale changes his view, more and more drastically as the play advances, as a result of the events that he underwent and the experiences he had. Soon he had total belief in the innocence of all those convicted and hung in Salem.
Miller’s life paralleled The Crucible in many ways. The characters in the play had many traits that resembled his. He and the people of Salem were censored by the frenzy of the times they were living in. The hysteria and the mob mentality exacerbated the anticommunists’ and the witch-hunters’ philosophies. The Red Scare affected Miller in the same way the witch hunts affected the people of Salem. As long as there are people with authority in the world, there will be challengers of authority. Censorship will always be used to make others conform. A majority of the public is and always will be easily influenced by hysteria and the mob mentality. Miller used his own experiences to write The Crucible, a play that describes universal behavior and the human condition.
In the play, "The Crucible," characters are put in tough situations where they feel uncomfortable and they need for something to change in order to resolve the problem. The definition of crucible is actually a "heat resistant container in which materials inside can be subjected to great heat." (Merriam-Webster, 190) This is very fitting for the play because the girls are like the heat on the outside, putting pressure and tension on the adults in the village, who are like the materials on the inside. One of the two categories of people must change in order to resolve the conflict, and three main characters display this need to change more than any others. The first person is John Procter, who changes somewhat through the play. The second is Abigail Williams, who attempts to change the people around her. And the third is Reverend John Hale, who changes quite dramatically through the play. All of these characters recognize that change is needed, but approach the problem from different perspectives.
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.
Thomas Putnam is behind the accusations toward many people. 'Did you ever see Sarah Good with him,'; he questions Tituba, 'or Osburn?';(46). With fear and panic, Tituba confesses she sees the Devil with them. Sarah Good and Osburn are insignificant in Salem. They certainly don't satisfy Putnam's fastidious demand, so he moves on to the next victim and eventually accuses Rebecca Nurse. 'For murder, she's charged! For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies';(71). Putnam truly stands out of the crowd this time. He is perhaps the only person corrupt enough to accuse Rebecca. Last but not to the least he manipulated his daughter to accuse George Jacobs. Does Putnam simply wants to killed the witches and save the children? No, there is something bigger he is after.
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.
When Beth begins to scream loudly, Putnam is quick to state that she is bewitched while the doctor states that she is ill, and cannot bear loud noises from the church. Putnam affirms: "The Psalm! She cannot bear to hear the Lord 's name… That is a notorious sign of witchcraft!" (Miller 30) Which is responded with: "There is hard sickness here… so please to keep the quiet." (Miller 31). This, and other examples, show that societies will attribute their own ideas as absolute truth inside of religion. By doing this, oppression is created with the justification of religion, when in fact the origin of these understandings often have nothing to do with religion. Parris, a strong influence in the oppression that Salem is facing, is also guilty of this act. His constant oppression, especially towards John Proctor, has some base in distorted religious beliefs. Parris attempts to defend the accusation being made towards the woman by saying: "Cain were an upright man, and yet he did kill Abel." (Miller 95). Proctor replies with: "Aye, God tells us that. But who tells us Rebecca Nurse murdered seven babies by sending out her spirit on them?" (Miller 95). John Proctor plainly affirms that the accusations being made should not be considered absolute truth, and that defending them with religion, as was being done, is incorrect. The belief that any accusation made by one of the girls was inside religion was misguided and oppressive, notably to the victims of the accusations.
The Crucible was written in the early 1950s as an exploration of events which took place in Massachusetts in 1692. What does the play have to offer an audience in 2014?
The Crucible is a play with many underlying messages and themes. One of which is the idea of power. Power is a very important term in this play in that whoever holds the power, holds the fates of others. The hysteria within Salem has directly effected society. Everything has turned upside down and has gotten distorted. Arthur Miller is telling us that all the power in Salem is given to those who are corrupt and their abuse of it is directly shown through: the actions of Abigail throughout the play, the corruption and desires of Parris, as well as the witch trials held by Judge Danforth.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.