The sense of absolute dread and uncertainty often chains itself to an individual’s mind causing people to make bad decisions sometimes fatal and hazardous to anyone around them as they lose sight and rationality. Such examples manifest themselves as it can be seen in playwright, The Crucible, and an article, Extended Forecast: Bloodshed, when people become desperate and seek a scapegoat to their problems. The Crucible and Bloodshed manifest similarities as fear and uncertainty overrides the peoples’ decisions, however the reasons behind the decisions greatly differ to their circumstances.
Despite the massive time gap and cultural difference between modern time Africa and late 17th century Salem, uncertainty will always narrows the sight while
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fear dictates the decisions of individuals. The paranoia escalates among the inhabitants of Salem when Putnam claims, “There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep himself in the dark” (Crucible 16), marking the beginning of the witch hunt at the cost of innocent lives. As a result, villagers point their fingers among themselves to prevent harm to themselves due to fear of becoming the victim such as Parris threatening, “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (Crucible 44), leading to an endless cycle of passing the blame onto another. This scenario manifests a prime example of many individuals under the influence of fear as they suffer the paranoia of becoming the next victim forcing themselves to testify to a lie while uncertain of who will turn against them. Similarly, the people of Tanzania rely on superstition to justify their fears as they also seek scapegoats in their respective circumstances. The fear of starvation due to failing crops while their uncertainty of their survival drives the Tanzanian people to act irrationally leading them to find a scapegoat to their problems. The victims are “In rural Tanzania, murders of elderly women accused of witchcraft” (Bloodshed) as this shows similar to The Crucible that when people become desperate, any illogical reasons becomes reasonable even if it does not even make sense in the first place. Although both the people in Salem and Tanzania target witches in particular, the reasoning behind it differs as one abuses the system to settle grudges while the other was to direct the frustrations for bad conditions.
Walcott in his case blames Martha for the death of the pigs be bought while Giles explains, “Now he goes to court and claims that from that day to this he cannot keep a pig alive for more than four weeks because my Martha bewitch them with her books!” (Crucible 72). However in reality, he causes the death of the pigs with his ignorant mentality refusing to feed them. Similarly, Thomas the witch trials as a way to obtain more land as Giles states , “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property - that’s law...This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” (Crucible 96). However when compared to the people of Africa, the situation becomes very skewed to the opposite end. For the situation of African people are described as “The poorest people on Earth are in the Sahel, barely eking out an existence, and climate change pushes them over the edge” (Bloodshed), their irrational actions becomes more understandable as they simply are uncertain of their future and become prone to following their superstitions. The people are extremely poor with barely any food sources, justifying reason of violence as they fear the loss of crops going as far to believe superstitions of elderly women as witches and killing them to prevent any weather
changes. The differences of fear and uncertainty of witch-huntings of modern time Africa and 17th century Salem in The Crucible become prominent as one was for personal gain while the other was desperation. People make rash decisions and become illogical when they are under pressure, especially when they are fighting for there life and uncertain of the outcomes. However, the people of Salem simply abuse the witch-hunt to their use manifesting the fact they are only using the pretense of fear of witches just to kill the people they hate, while the African people are simply desperate and afraid to lose their only source to keep them alive. Afterall, everyone has a different perspective in the same situation.
Authors often try to interweave themes or meanings into their works in order to create a deeper and more intriguing work of literature. For instance, The Crucible, a film written by Arthur Miller, and “The Minister’s Black Veil”, a parable by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are two pieces of literature that share the recurring theme of how fear affects a person’s decision making. By examining two of the characters from The Crucible, Abigail Williams and John Proctor, one is able to see how fear can lead people into hysteria, causing them to do things they normally would never do. Another example of fear changing peoples’ views and actions is displayed in “The Minister’s Black Veil”. This theme is well displayed in the town’s responses to Mr. Hooper’s
In modern times, the most infamous witch trials are the one that occurred in Salem. These specific witch trials are known for the unjust killings of several accused women and men. The Salem witch trials of 1692, is a big portion of what people refer to, when they want to analyze how Puritan life was during the colonial period. According to ‘Salem Witch Trials’, “The witch trials are often taken as a lens to view the whole Puritan period in New England and to serve as an example of religious prejudice…” (Ray p.32). However, as more fragments of textual evidence occur, historians are making new evaluations of how the witch trials were exaggerated by recent literature. Some historians like Richard Godbeer, analyze how witch trials were conducted during the colonial times, but in a different setting, Stamford, Connecticut. In this book,
At times, fear motivates people to behave unscrupulously. Personal fears instigate some characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible to cry witch. Reverend Parris fears losing his job, Abigail fears prosecution and losing John Proctor, and Tituba fears physical retribution. Fear induces people to defend their personal whims and use their power to harm others.
The Salem Witch Trials is a devastating event in which 19 people and dogs were killed due to the cry of witchcraft. The outburst of these events could be blamed on several things. Certain things like economics, medicines and culture have to be taken into account when trying to understand the events of the Salem Witch Trials. People like Franklin Jr. Mixon, Linnda R. Caporael, Dr. Allan Woolf, Elaine G. Brewslaw, and Isaac Ariail Reed take into account one of the three: economics, medicines and culture and explain as to why or why not the event happened the way it did disregarding all the other factors.
Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
Handling the adversity that develops within a character’s life is something that requires ultimate determination, dedication and thought. However, when the given adverse situation is handled in a violent manner, the following occurrences include downfall and destruction. Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, he is able to convey the realistic negative consequences that may follow the effects of violence on adversity. From the very genesis of the play, Macbeth is constantly handling adversity, which at times results in various dilemmas as a result of his tragic flaw. The violent acting on adversity or challenges placed before main character Macbeth, causes him to build a “snowball effect” of downfall and dismay throughout the play. Initially, Macbeth begins handling his challenges in different manners and is constantly altering his procedure. From handling situations cautiously to thoughtlessly, or having his own opinions to none of his own at all, and finally from fighting the truth to accepting his fate, regardless of the type of task, his violent handlings of them causes his own domino effect of transformations. By applying a variety of literary techniques such as personification and foreshadowing, William Shakespeare is able to effectively prove that acting violently upon adversity has a strong potential of resulting in pure disaster.
John M. Murrin’s essay Coming to Terms with the Salem Witch Trials helps detail the events of these trials and explains why they might have occurred. The witch trials happened during a “particularly turbulent time in the history of colonial Massachusetts and the early modern atlantic world” (Murrin, 339). Salem came to be in 1629 and less than seventy years later found itself in a mess of witch craft.
Scheidt, Jennifer L., and Denis M. Calandra. “CliffsNotes on The Crucible.” CliffsNotes.com. CliffsNotes. 2010. Web. 18 Sep 2011.
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.
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.
The Crucible is a play which brings to our attention many timeless issues. The nature of good and evil, power and its corruption, honour and integrity and our tendency to create scapegoats for all manner of problems are all brought up through the course of the play - sometimes in very dramatic fashion.
In 1692 the area of Salem town and Salem village became very vulnerable to conflict. Severe weather such as hurricanes had damaged land and crops, the effects of King Phillips War began to impact New England society, and colonists were being forced off of the frontiers by Native peoples. The Church and the government were in heavy conflict. And those residing in Salem began to grow suspicious of one another when some prospered and others hadn’t (Marcus, p13).
In The Crucible, fingers are consistently being pointed at one another. Fearing harm and penalization, the characters are swift to distort the truth. “I want to open myself!...I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (cusd80, 15). Abigail worries desperately about the possibility of receiving punishment for having caught casting charms and dancing with her friends in the forest. Tituba’s confession offers an example of scapegoating, and Abigail extends onto it. She “admits” her affiliation with the Devil, and according to the people of Salem, means that she has redeemed her loyalty to God and becomes free of sin. Then, as the next step in removing herself from sin, she accuses others of being witches, thus shifting the burden of shame off her hands to those she names. Kristoff’s “Extended Forecast: Bloodshed”, on the other hand, depicts the illogical reasoning for punishment of elderly women in Tasmania. “He believes that if climate change causes more drought years in Tanzania, the result will be more elderly women executed there and in other poor countries that still commonly attack supposed witches.”(New York Times). Here it demonstrates the correlation between climate change, such as drought, and the punishment of elderly women in Tasmania. It is conspicuous that those in Tasmania, fear that these supposed witches are the cause of poor weather conditions. The current weather and climate may devastate crops and ultimately affect the lives of the greater Tasmanian community, thus, a country with such beliefs must resort to such measures if they believe that it would protect
The desire for power and authority has always been a part of the human nature. Today’s society most often use power to dominate one another and fulfill one’s personal intentions, which can affect other people in many ways. Having power and authority is truly gratifying but it is terrifying if abused and used for selfish acts. The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is an example to illustrate the consequences of abuse of power. The characters Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris use their power over society by manipulating people and using their authority to fulfill their personal intentions, like material gain, vengeance, maintaining social status and reputation, and attention, which eventually lead into a mass hysteria.