The Theme Of Conflict In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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How would you feel if you were suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, with a group of people knocking at your door, claiming that you’re under arrest for being a witch? You would be taken away from your family and friends, and if you don’t confess to a crime that you never did, you would be killed. This idea is the main basis of conflict in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. This deals with the Salem Witch Trials, and highlights it the personal issues that people would have went through being apart of a Puritanical society. Miller wrote the play as an “act of desperation,” ( “Why I,” 2) since he realized could relate the Red Scare to the Witch Trials. Miller was trying to use The Crucible to send a message to the public that what they were …show more content…

Danforth was typically regarded as the leader of the three judges, and he takes his job very seriously. “Do you know who I am? I say you will hang of you do not open with me!”(Act 3, 117) Danforth, like McCarthy, is aware of his power and influence. He uses the theme of fear to get Mary Warren to speak untruthfully about what she has done. Miller uses characters to represent iconic figures from his time to provide a clearer picture concerning the link between the Red Scare and the Witch Trials. “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it. There is no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time-We live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it.” (Act 3, 97) Danforth is representing McCarthy, and his mentality by saying “if you’re not with us, than you’re against us.” Furthermore, Danforth sees himself as exposing the dirt of Salem, similar to how McCarthy saw himself exposing the “conspiracies” of America. The widespread fear that Miller uses as a theme effects Danforth by causing him to only use spectral evidence, and to have him place his faith in the girls. This reflects society since people were accused without having any proof against them, just like the characters in the

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