Lack Of Power In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

“Life, woman, life is God's most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it” (Miller, 122). Life is said to be God’s most precious gift, we have the power to do anything we may please. Each one of us is different and unique, but lives can be riddled and swayed through waves of burdensome conflict. At an individual standpoint, one should feel the need to express their anger and hate towards other people. It is when the individual is faced against the opposition, or the collective group, they can be put under pressure or stress that may cause them to act in an unnatural way. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, there are many instances in which the individual is disregarded and oppressed due to the lack of power.

Here it is safe to say that the individual is dominated by the collective, and that the situation of conflict is intensified into a catastrophic state in which the individual is endangered substantially. This also gives way to an exaggerated authority, as well.
In The Crucible it is evidently clear that there are many characters who value their safety. In most cases, characters such as Abigail Williams, safety is endangered. Abigail Williams was always a hateful woman, she does not recognize her duties in life and looks more towards love over religion. She believes she should feel free to express her hate towards anyone. This includes the time when she displayed her rage at Mercy Lewis, Betty Williams, and Mary Warren. “Let either of you breathe a word, an edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you” (Miller, 19) In Abigail’s statement she is referring to dancing in the woods that she and a few other girls did, while Tituba attempted to conjure Ruth Putnam’s dead sisters. Abigail drank blood as well, which she believed was a charm to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Here, in her statement she asserts her dominance as the individual while threatening the collective: Mercy, Mary, and Betty. She believes that she has the right to go after, and even go to the extent of killing, if someone were to disclose any other information other than the dancing. Therefore, it is clear that Abigail is at a disadvantage as the other girls all have accounts of what she did that night. Her safety is endangered, so she feels the need to threaten the other girls as a form of defense. Abigail also did what she did that night to kill Elizabeth Proctor, this is because she once had an affair with John Proctor. She believes John Proctor is his man, while amidst this conflict he does not.
The example of John Proctor reflects how one can be put under pressure and how they can be angered into creating an outburst.

John Proctor is a common farmer who recognizes his place in society, and is a humble family man. Proctor’s weakness is his temper, he can become angered easily and is also not afraid to speak his mind of what is right. “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrants vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance” (Miller,73)! Proctor is addressing the case of his only wife who is on the brink of being arrested. Here Proctor recognizes the state of being in Salem, and addresses it. He wholeheartedly believe that crazy children, such as Abigail Williams who is seventeen years old, are “jangling the keys of the kingdom…” or controlling Salem itself. Proctor also believes that the common feeling of vengeance, or revenge drives the notion of law and government in Salem. All these tensions create conflict and stress throughout Salem. Elizabeth was not the first to be arrested and charged for witchcraft, it is very hard to tell who else will be arrested, or also how many more people will be sent to be hang. It is clear to see that this conflict that was started is developing to the point where it is considered a catastrophe, and the safety of the individuals is decreasing. Also the collective group is at a significant advantage because they are the authority, they have the power to arrest the people to their, or others, liking and self-wants. Since the safety of the individual is decreasing, the authority gets stricter and more precise in finding people that are in charge of being witches. Due to this the authority becomes exaggerated as

well.
The example of Judge Danforth reflects how one can rise to power in a time of stress and conflict, and how the power is, ultimately, in their hands. Danforth is a man who is strong with his opinion, and does not waste a minute to condemn the charged. He is a strict man who knows the law, as if it were a bible. “Now we cannot hope the witch will accuse herself; granted? Therefore, we must rely upon her victims—and they do testify, the children certainly do testify. As for the witches, none will deny that we are most eager for all their confessions” (Miller, 73). Danforth is responding to Hale’s defense of the charged to bring a lawyer to sort out the individual cases. In Danforth statement it is evidently clear that his opinion is with the collective group, the victims, or children so to speak. He is also intent upon persecuting the witches, or the individuals, and seeks justice though the conflict is already quite muddied. Here this proves that the authority, another collective group including the victims, is more strict and harsh compared to when there were times of no conflict. This conflict has risen to the heights of a catastrophe, so that an immense authoritative power is needed and required. Due to this Danforth wastes no time charging, persecuting, and interrogating the witches, while the victims watch with satisfaction.
If one observes more worldly matters, it is clear to observe many other situations of individual vs. collective conflict. Native Americans were a big part of society in the past, but now they are disregarded and shunned. In the Gila Indian reservation in Sacaton Arizona, at least eight Native American children commit suicide every year. These suicides are disregarded by the native americans themselves, the only thing a fellow Native American can offer is themselves and their gratitude. Besides those things, suicides are left alone. In the past the Federal Government also has tried to assimilate the Native Americans, they created schooling in which the Natives were forced to abandon culture and tradition and send their children to Euro-American based school system. Though this was an effort to assimilate the natives, the staff ended up sexually harassing and raping the children. The actions of the collective, the school staff members, against the individuals, the natives, display that they could care less about the natives. When the federal government does this, they are turning an good intentions into saddening results. In the present, it is less heartbreaking to see a small effort from the local task force and hospital industries in helping these young ones.
Associate Attorney General Tony West visited the reservation, and was shocked to hear that all the fifteen teenagers he met with knew other children that committed suicide. After hearing this he wanted to take action. Deborah Parker, vice chair of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington also wants to help. But Parker has a disturbing past that makes her strive to help these reservation children: “Parker didn’t talk about her sexual abuse as a child until two years ago, when she publicly told of being repeatedly raped when she was the “size of a couch cushion.’” Her past reflects who she is as her person and her attachment to these young native boys and girls, and why she is inclined to help them. These children are the face of the native american race, and they will be a bad representation of it, if they don’t have exposure to proper resources and medical help. The fact that these people are helping them makes it so that they are helping society and are in the process of once suicide ridden catastrophe the Native American teenagers were in.
All in all, it is safe to conclude that individual versus collective conflict can lead to catastrophe as well as endanger the individual’s life substantially. There also is a necessary need for more strict authoritative control. As seen in the examples of Abigail Williams and John Proctor, we can see that when an individual is concerned for their own safety they want to act in the way that will cause the other to beg for mercy or to regret their decision. In Judge Danforth’s case we see that he will go to any extent to persecute the wrong doers, and does serve as that stricter more centrifugal force in the text. As seen with the Native Americans we can see that catastrophe is being evaded and healed through the helping of lawyers and intervention of hospitals. In this example both the individual and the collective groups are working hand in hand to better each other’s lives. It is a belief that conflict should be resolved the right way. Not out of vengeance. It should be resolved through working together, bonding, sharing memories and love. It is through this resolving of conflict and enjoyment of life itself that one truly believes in oneself and will come to know the true meaning of life. It is through these moments we can really start to understand and cherish life as God’s gift. Though we may stumble into conflict along the way, it is up to us, the individual and collective, to solve our own problems and offer a helping hand and gratitude towards others. It is through this that God will smile down upon us for cherishing and holding his gift near and dear to our hearts.