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Modern relevance of the crucible
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Collin Addy
English III Honors
Mr. Biber
4 September 2015
The Bizarre Killer
“Truth never damages a cause that is just” (Mahatma Gandhi). This quote is suitable for most circumstances, but in Salem Massachusetts, the year 1692, the citizens found it to be the complete opposite. If a person were accused of being a witch they had two choices: they would either lie (a sin in puritan society) by confessing to witchcraft or they would keep their word with God and be executed. Many puritans took the easy way out, confessing to witchcraft to spend more time on earth, but John Proctor dug deep into his soul and finally forgave himself for all his sins. Proctor is more responsible for ending his life than Elizabeth Proctor or Mary Warren.
Proctor
put himself in the position to be hanged. Because of his affair with a young girl named Abigail Williams, she develops an unhealthy obsession over him. Abigail is determined to do anything to take Elizabeth’s (Proctor’s wife) place. Abigail accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft and the only way Proctor thinks he can save her is to overthrow the court. He ends up ruining his own name by sticking to his belief, “God damns all liars” (Miller 225). He does not confess to witchcraft but confesses to adultery. After being thrown in jail, he refuses to have a confession posted on the church door, which leads to him being hanged. Elizabeth Proctor is a good puritan woman. She is almost always honest and would not harm a fly, but upon being called on, Elizabeth lied to the court to save Proctor’s life. Although Elizabeth lying did put Proctor in jail she had nothing to do with the hanging of Proctor. In fact, when Proctor is deciding whether or not to confess, he asks Elizabeth what he should do and she replies with, “I want you living John. That’s sure” (236). Proctor makes his own decision to die. He knew it was his fate and he figured out that’s what he wanted best. Mary Warren can also be blamed as Proctor’s killer because she accused him of “being the devils man” which helped send Proctor to jail (226). Proctor ultimately had this coming to him because of the harsh beatings he gave Mary whenever she made the slightest mistake. Although Mary may have played a part in sending Proctor to jail, he signed his own death wish by refusing to have his confession posted for his fellow puritans to see. The reader may argue that if Proctor was never sent to jail he would never have to confess to the court. When he came to the court with Mary Warren his intentions were to save his wife and his friends even if he had to suffer consequences. Proctor says he will “fall like an ocean on that court” to Elizabeth as she is being taken away (204). Proctor is saying that he will do whatever is necessary to bring Elizabeth home. Out of everyone, John Proctor himself is the bizarre killer. Arthur Miller. “The Crucible.” 2000:165-241.
The Crucible the film is an adapted version of Arthur Miller’s play of the same name, which was inspired by the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Salem, Massachusetts. The two main characters are Abigail Williams played by Winona Ryder and John Procter played by Daniel Day-Lewis. The Crucible’s opening scene is Reverend Parris catching Abigail and her friends dancing in the woods and conjuring spirits. Abigail did not want to get in trouble so she blamed Tituba, a Barbados slave, for making her drink chicken blood, and tempting her to sin.
They say “Honesty is the best policy”, but that isn’t necessarily true especially for those who lived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Honesty may have been a good trait for someone to have, but during the witch trials people rethought that. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrayed many people as good puritans. Always loyal and honest throughout their lives, and avoiding any sins that they possibly could. But there were people who had to sin to save their lives or even to save their reputation. Abigail Williams was just an young girl who turned to lying in order to save herself during the Salem Witch Trials. At the same time, Elizabeth Proctor was not agreeing with the witch business that she was accused of. You could tell lies during this time, and no one would think that you were turning too sins because the entire town was becoming obsessed about all those accused of possible witchcraft. While some were being accused, others were avoiding the truth when confessing. Like when Abigail never confessed to drinking blood when she was with Tituba and Betty. In The Crucible, Honesty was portrayed
John Proctor: “God in heaven, what is John Proctor, what is John Proctor”. John is a man of strong moral beliefs, concerned only for the safety of his family and personal welfare. He cares of nothing for the beliefs of any of the other people in the town and what his supervisor which is the Reverend, thinks either. After trying to avoid involvement in the witch trials he is later prosecuted for witchery and sentenced to hang. John trys to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for doing so is to protect his image because he is afraid he will be committed of adultery with Abigail Williams. Following these events he trys to save everyone’s lives by admitting to this horrible offense adultery and ends up losing the trial along with his life. He did have a chance to live but instead of signing away his name and his soul to keep his life, he wanted to die honorably with his friends not without a name, a soul, and with guilt. “John Proctors decision to die is reasonable and believable”. Reverend Parris, the Salem minister and Proctors immediate supervisor, which says “ there is either obedience or the church will burn like hell is burning.” “The church in theocratic Salem is identical with the state and the community and will surely crumble if unquestioning obedience falters in the least.” Proctor, on the other hand, “has come to regard his self as a king of fraud,” as long as he remains obedient to an authority which he cannot respect.
John Proctor is, at first, willing to offer up a false confession that his life may be spared. Inevitably, John Proctor possesses that fateful attribute known to fall fatal to many human beings - pride. While he has, indeed, been ashamed of his many sins throughout his life, Proctor's soul still clings to his pride and his good name, however soiled it may have become. On the morning scheduled for his execution, Proctor wrestles with the realization that one more sin so heaped upon the rest in his life will make precious little difference in the end; "I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. I am not that man.... My honesty is broke... I am no good man. Nothing's spoiled by giving them this lie." (126) He attempts to calm his pride by telling himself that the other accused witches who will not give false testimony to save themselves from the gallows have every right to do so; they led lives free of blame. He, however, he tells himself, did no such thing; what right has he to hang among the righteous? "Let them that never lied die now to keep their souls. It is pretense for me, a vanity that will nor blind God nor keep my children out of the wind." (126) Thus the conviction first reached by John Proctor is to save his life rather than to throw it away in mock martyrdom.
John Proctor was hanged after refusing to confess for the crime the court had wrongfully determined he committed. John Proctor was not only forced to defend himself from Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth, but he also tried to undermine the flawed court of Salem. Proctor could not have possibly fought against a law that believes children over respected persons (87), spectral evidence over good opinion, and false testimonies over actual confessions (105). The Salem court was set up to eradicate any found witches, not to give them due process. Had John Proctor been tried in a modern day court, he would not even make it up to the stand; an unbiased judge would have thrown it out before it reached the courtroom.
The law in Salem was guilty until proven innocent, which was very unjust because in the constitution it clearly states that a person is innocent until proven guilty; and the court condemned people without providing the proper evidence to prove their innocence or guilt. "And why not, if they must hang for denyin' it? There are them that will swear to anything before they'll hang; have you never thought of that?"(258-296). Reverend Hale and John Proctor are discussing and agreeing that the justice of the court is not "just" and that an accusation is like already saying your guilty. The only way to avoid punishment would be to lie and confess. This isn't just at all because lying is a crime, but in this case it's forced upon because there's no way you could prove your innocence if your already found guilty and there's no evidence that your innocent. "But the proof, the proof!"(118). Elizabeth Procter and Mary Warren are talking about how Goody Osborn was condemned only because she couldn't recite the Ten Commandments. While Elizabeth noticed the court didn't have any proof that Goody Procter was guilty.
The Crucible – Forgiveness & nbsp; The Healing Power Of Forgiveness - The Gift of Reconciliation. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." --- Mahatma Gandhi & nbsp; Forgiveness is a process of inner healing. For most of the people in The Crucible, they did not need to necessarily forgive others but forgive themselves.
The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The togetherness of the community, the church and legal system died so that the children could protect their families' social status.
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.
“It’s strange how I knew you, but I suppose you look as such a good soul should. We have all heard of your great charities in Beverly.” This quote, stated by Reverend Hale, referring to Rebecca Nurse explains how others in the town think very highly of her. Therefore, when Rebecca is accused of using witchcraft to murder Ann Putnam's babies during the Salem Witchcraft Trials, the townspeople suggest that it may be a hoax. I can relate to Rebecca Nurse because we are both greatly understanding, extremely skeptical, and very nurturing.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations. The confession of Proctor would convince others in the town to confess to their
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 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.
Throughout the play, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the characters crack under the pressure, face trials they fear they can’t handle on their own, and ultimately turned against one another. There are three known definitions of the word ‘crucible’ and Arthur Miller incorporated all three when writing this play. First, a container used to melt metal or other substances at a high temperature, second, a severe test or trial, and lastly, a situation where great political, social or cultural forces interact or change. All the interpretations of this word apply to the play, they all symbolize an event that took place.
Everyone conforms, even if it is for the worst. People conform when they fear the results of when they rebel. To conform is perceived to behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards. Many scenarios in history show what happens when people conform. Conforming is almost always a terrible idea. When people conformed in the Salem Witch Trials, the problem had increased to the point of innocent people being hanged. The in book “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller shows the conforming of the people in Salem. In the book, it explains the consequences of conforming for the worst and what happens when people rebel. When rebelling people show great self-respect, human rights, and can save lives when rebelling for the good instead of