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The crucible themes
The crucible themes
Themes of the crucible essay
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Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1953) was written against the backdrop of the communist witch-hunts. Miller drew parallels between the 1692 Salem witch trials and Joseph McCarthy’s communist-crackdown to create a society of tension and fear. In both dystopian situations, a misguided judicial and political system skewed the social perspective. The courts condemned individuals upon evidence that was false; yet, no sense of wrongdoing was felt. The religiously intolerant society of Salem sought to enforce theocratic rule and suppress freedom of opinion. From a philosophical standpoint, a systematic analysis of the morals and ethics underpinning the Salem society will lead to a discerning understanding of the play. In addressing the Ethics Center, IQ2 and the QCAA, it will be argued today that a mandatory inclusion of the Crucible is crucially vital as it prompts reflections on larger human concerns by extend thinking beyond one’s own experience and educates students about ethics and morality in society.
The Crucible must be kept in the QCAA curriculum as it educates students about the morality of their decisions. This would enable a more compressive understanding, leading to
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Through the actions of the characters, students are able to learn valuable lessons. In modern society, not enough books teach students about the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. Having a firm set of principles to guide your life and the choices you make is what ethics is all about. The crucible offers different perspective on people’s interpretations of ethics and society. The Salem society valued theocratic beliefs above the law. Some characters sacrificed their integrity to keep aligned with their beliefs. The lesson that students should learn from the Crucible is that a combination of beliefs, integrity and obedience of the law is required in order to be an ethical member of
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 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.
Crucible- a severe test, a hard trial or also could be define as a pot for melting metals. A severe trail could be as other then a physical it also could be mentally a severe trial like person verses self. In The Crucible, Miller reflects the theme that pressure can force people from there can force their morals. The characters in The Crucible have morals that they must up hold to be accepted into the town and church. It is a struggle to keep these values when there are moral hazards like desires, greed, hate, and obsession.
Honor, dignity, and integrity are traits that are becoming more and more rare in our society. The Crucible, a play written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, is based on the Salem witch hunts of 1692 and parallels the Red Scare and McCarthyism in the 1950s. In the play, Miller attempts to focus his themes around traits such as honor, dignity, and integrity, and as a result, the theme "is it better to die honorably or live dishonorably" becomes vital to the story and well conveyed throughout it. The characters that exemplify this idea are John Proctor and Giles Corey, both of whom die by the end of the play, and Reverend John Hale and Abigail Williams, who live through the trials.
Through time it can be seen that the world’s history has a nature of repeating its self. Author Miller, was aware of this as he experienced a repitition of history of society’s flawed government. In the text The Crucible, the writer, Author Miller has identified and illustrated the problems society faced during the 1950’s setting by drawing parallels with the setting of the 1962 Salem witch hunt. This setting helps readers to understand the characters of John Proctor and Giles Corey.
Traditionalism and conservatism have always threatened the “rights” and easily strengthened the “wrongs” of society. Liberal ideals allow some people to see past the norms of the time into the heart of the matter or to predict a better future. Victimized people may be forced to see things differently even if they are not naturally liberal. The Crucible shows how these people—the liberals, victims and liberal victims—fought to stand by what they knew to be right, even when all of the voices and norms of society were against them. In the Salem in the play people who were accused were urged to confess based on the testimonies of others and the traditions of severe religious consequences and
However as time progresses, people begin to understand that other people’s well-being is as important as their own. The Salem Witch Trials began when people started to suspect one another for being witches. Similarly this relates to present day 2015 where many Muslims and Middle-Eastern people are prosecuted for being terrorists. Hopefully over time, people will come to realize that not all people in a single race are susceptible of performing such crimes. In The Crucible, Miller uses description in the monologue and dialogue of different characters in order to portray people’s eventual change from selfish to selfless. He presents the transformation from selfishness to selflessness in the characters of John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Giles Corey. Although humanity can appear to be bleak, it will eventually realize its faults and change for a better
The Crucible mocks the way society deals with justice. Salem is torn apart, due to the extent of Abigail's imagination and power. It shows the bias of opinions, as it was shown in the court, and how people tend to choose outcomes that suit them. In the end, injustice thrived upon the souls of the community, leaving many innocent people dead. Justice did not prevail, as the heart behind the case, John Proctor preferred to keep his self-respect and integrity, than live a life of lies.
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.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
Arthur Miller expresses the concept of oppression being present in every society through the characters of The Crucible. "It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions." As discussed, personal motives, disputes and misuses of power, as well as distorted religious beliefs are the roots of the maltreatment in Salem. Miller’s statement and message is valid and applicable in every society, and for every
The absolute power of aristocracies is a scourge on society that corrupts minds and imposes too much of an impact on the lives of the majority. At the time when Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, society was subject to McCarthyism, the unquestionable authoritative force that could and did ruin the lives of those suspected of communism. Yet, of these people who suffered the brunt of punishment from authority, a numerous percentage of them displayed hypocrisy in accusing others out of survival. In The Crucible, Miller reflects this idea of hypocrisy in an environment where unquestionable authority reigns. His work displays the essentiality in rising out of such an insincere state and acting upon what
...l, Miller attempts to criticize societies that are governed by hypocrisies as they open the gateway for many to attain previously unreachable levels of power and are able to commit a crime without paying for it by blaming it entirely on someone else on false charges. Miller’s The Crucible does an excellent job in reflecting not only the society in its direct context of Salem but also other societies such as the society of the U.S during McCarthyism. Miller even though being accused of being a communist, is able to pass on his views about how hypocrisy is a dangerous yet immensely famous tool to which societies sometimes fall to in order to achieve almost an anarchy where people’s survival are based on their ability to blame others.
The Crucible is an incredibly influential play no only in the fact that it displays many important themes, but it also portrays how a theocracy impacts societal actions. The Salem witch trials were the culmination of the problems with theocracy. The actions of society, not only are impacted by their personal thoughts, but also in religious undertones affect them. Act two in the play portrays not only all of these themes, but also some important events leading towards the witchcraft hysteria. Act two in the play portrays how theocracy ultimately leads to chaos.
Unlike the Scarlet letter the Crucible was more of a dramatic book. In this book it showed how many people can “rub” off on others. This causes people to act like one another. In The Crucible, there was a lonely Black woman who thought she could talk to ghosts. A couple girls fell into this trap and eventually got caught. Instead of the girls admitting to what they had done, they lied and started a whole town issue. This caused many people to get in trouble and even die. Instead of taking the consequences the girls pawned the blame on other people, in today’s society we have a major problem with this. This happens everyday due to people not wanting to be adults and own up to what they have done. After the girls were found guilty to lying about everything the town went back to normal and no one ever talked about it again. Society errors are the worst things to fall