Power: the Fuel of a Crucible

The human lust and want for power has been and is the base of each and every witch-hunt. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that is based of 1962 Salem Massachusetts, the site of one of the worst witch-hunts in history. Abigail Williams was the main accuser of withes in Salem, and in her accusations she gained power in the town. In total 20 accused witches were hanged, and a total of about 200 people were accused. In a more modern witch-hunt, the Holocaust, Hitler also experimented with the limits of power and using power to control mass amount of people. Both Abigail and Hitler experimented and tested to true extent of power a single individual can use to control others. In the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the societal value of power was explored through the actions and repercussions of Abigail Williams, in the Holocaust the actions of Hitler illustrated the limits of power and to what extent power can be used to manipulate mass amounts of people. Both Hitler and Abigail used their power for control and to benefit themselves, but also they caused fear in the people and retaliation to some level.

Once an individual recognizes the power that they have they use it to control people, this could be control in a positive or a negative way. In the Crucible Abgail uses her power to control her fellow girls in the court, “Danforth: What is it, child? Abigail: I- I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. Marry Warren: Abby! Mercy Lewis: Your Honor, I freeze”, this all occurred during the court session that involved Marry admitting that all of the girls had been faking it (Act 3, pg 1088). This is a example of how Abigail uses her gained power from the court to manipulate the court. Abigail can use her power and cause th...

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...recognizes their power they can use it to control other and in doing so benefit themselves, but if another individual recognizes the corruption, they are made out to be nothing by the powerful individual by using his power to influence others ideas.

In consideration of how power functioned in both the Crucible and the Holocaust a tend of how an individual can use power to control, influence, benefit themselves, and also protect themselves from attacks can be seen. Human Nature compels us to gain power because of want, but once we have the power we will inherently use it to influence other because of the need of the individual to have their ideas agreed with. Power can either make a leader great or make a whole society or movement corrupt. Lessons can be used about how to effectively use power to properly initiate change and make a positive impact on the world.