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Analysis of the film The Crucible by Arthur Miller
Analysis of the salem witch trials
Analysis of the film The Crucible by Arthur Miller
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Recommended: Analysis of the film The Crucible by Arthur Miller
In the world today, there are modern day “witch hunts.” Now I’m not talking about hunting real witches. The definition of a witch hunt is an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like, usually based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials, and how they were unfair, and wrong because innocent people were killed and jailed. Arthur Miller wrote the crucible to explain, and compare the McCarthy trials, and the Salem Witch trials. In the 1940’s and 1950’s the United States was hunting “witches”, really just people in the communist party. This is one example of Modern day “witch hunts”. In America today there are many different “witch hunts” going on, from races to religious beliefs to social status even choices that people make. One race that is discriminated against in America is the Hispanics or Mexicans. There are many cases in which someone could not get a job, or lose out on something, just because they are Hispanic or Mexican. In an article by Gabriel Medina Arenas, a 46 year old Hispanic woman Gabriela Calzada believes she lost a job opportunity just because she was Hispanic. She said “I had all the qualifications” “I think they didn’t give it to me because I am Hispanic but I could be wrong. She only had a Bachelors Degree and I have a Ph.D.” (Qtd in Gabriel Medina Arenas). Many people that are of a different race other than white Americans don’t get a job or other things because of their race. Even if they have a higher education or are more qualified for the job. Mexicans aren’t the only ones that have been or still are discriminated against because of their skin color. African Americans or black people have been di... ... middle of paper ... ...y rate in 2010 was the highest poverty rate since 1993. Between 1993 and 2000, the poverty rate fell each year, reaching 11.3 percent in 2000” (“National Poverty Center | University of Michigan."). Being poor is common in today’s society, many people have lost their jobs or been laid off and have to draw an unemployment check. These people are often discriminated against, because they are looked down on by the upper class. All of these examples of modern day witch hunts link to the crucible in different ways. No one is literally being hunted like in the crucible. The court isn’t going out and searching for these people, they are just looked down on by American society. These “witch hunts” happen in everyday life, some people don’t take the time to look and notice. Take the time one day to look for these things, guarantee you will see the modern day “witch hunts”.
Proctors Grave Mistake Corruption has always existed in our society since the beginning to present time due to conspiracies such as the witch trials and the communism era. The Crucible by Arthur Miller was written during the era of communism to mere the hysteria. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials in Salem Massachusetts in 1692. It’s a corrupt witch trial in Salem that’s due to false accusations of witchcraft for personal gains. John Proctor is the protagonist in the story The Crucible who goes through the ultimate test by choosing his reputation over integrity.
Many people look back on the events of the Salem witch trials and laugh at the absurdity of the allegations. It seems crazy that society could be fooled into believing in things like witches and deal with the events in such an extreme manner. It is a common belief that witch hunts are things of the past. Many people would agree that they no longer exist today; however Arthur Miller, author of the play, "The Crucible", points out that society has not come very far from the days of the Salem witch trials. In his play, he used the Salem witch trials to represent the McCarthy Era because he saw that the nation was facing the same events that Salem went through back in the late 1600's. Arthur Miller wrote "The Crucible" in an attempt to create moral awareness for society. He did so by making a few small changes to the history and creating parallels in the play with racism, human tendencies, and H.U.A.C.
People are discriminated against because of their race and social position every day. This has been going on for hundreds of years. In Mexican White Boy, Danny and Uno were discriminated against by people around them for being different, but along the way of discovering themselves, they form an unbreakable friendship.
The Crucible agrees with the lens because in Puritan society of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, hunts are being held to find those who have sinned and practice witchcraft but unfortunately innocent people are accused. The Crucible is set in Salem, Massachusetts and John Proctor, the protagonist, is a farmer who is found by his wife having an affair with a teenager. Throughout the play, John is trying to make the truth known to a court that has no interest in listening. The conflict in this story occurs when people are being falsely accused of practicing witchcraft for reasons such as revenge or the desire for another’s land. An example of this is Abigail’s desire to be with John Proctor. She wants to be with him so badly that she accuses his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, or “witchery” in order to marry John Proctor. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now. I beg you, sir, I beg you-see her what she is…She thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! And well she might, for I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is promise in such sweat. But it is a whore’s vengeance…” This is a quote from Proctor when he is confessing to the court about his affair with Abigail in order to save his wife and the other innocent people who have been accused. Other examples include the part of the play where Giles tells the court that Putnam is killing his neighbors for their land. “…If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property-that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” This is a quote from Giles Corey from when he claimed that Thomas Putnam was killing others for their land. The entire play was made to be a symbol of the anti-Communist “witch-hunts” of the 1950s, the time of the author, Arthur Miller. The themes in this play are hysteria, reputation, and intolerance.
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.
The Crucible: Hysteria and Injustice Thesis Statement: The purpose is to educate and display to the reader the hysteria and injustice that can come from a group of people that thinks it's doing the "right" thing for society in relation to The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I. Introduction: The play is based on the real life witch hunts that occurred in the late 1600's in Salem, Massachusetts. It shows the people's fear of what they felt was the Devil's work and shows how a small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of this fear and ignorance.
The witch hunt in the crucible is initiated when Abigail and her friends fear the consequences of their ‘dancing’ in the forest. This connects to McCarthyism as the HUAC is represented by the judges and the ‘accuses’ (the girls) are representatives of Elia Kazan and others like him. The theocratic society of Salem is what the girls fear as the forest is seen as the devils resting place and the puritan nature of the town forbid dancing as it was seen as ‘vain enjoyment’ which as Miller himself states at the beginning of the novel to not be allowed. The character of Mary Warren begs the girls to just admit they were dancing as “…you’ll only be whipped for dancin’…”, but as Abigail is questioned and Parris mentions the kettle and how he believed “…there to be some movement- in the soup…”, the devil becomes prominent in the conversation. This is due to Abigail fearing that she will be blamed for devil worshipp...
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
McCarthyism is one of the most recent witch-hunts. This witch-hunt was from 1950 to 1956 lead by Joseph McCarthy. Evidence that this was a witch-hunt can be found in the article “The Cold War Museum” where it says “These people on the list were in fact not all communists; some had proven merely to be alcoholics and sexual deviants.” The reason why Mccarthy blamed these innocent people was because he “searched for ways to insure his political success, resorting even to corruption” stated the The Cold War website. These hunts happened mostly
...00s of years apart, and the Crucible wasn’t as harsh and bloody as the Holocaust. Both witch hunts killed off certain people that were discriminated against because of the word of one person. The modern day witch hunt, the Holocaust, was terrifying for the Jews, as well as other people, gypsies, homosexuals, and disabled people. The witch hunt back in the 1600s wasn’t as brutal against the people, and it was against whoever was convicted of being a witch, or committing a terrible crime. The groups of people that were harmed during these two witch hunts, lost everything, nothing in the world could relieve the pain they went through and suffered. The Jews lost 2/3 of their population in Europe, whereas the people in Salem lost their loved ones, and had to endure the torture of the court on their town, making them able to survive life after the witch trials were over
Racial discrimination in hiring, is the practice of letting a person’s race or skin color becomes an unfairly factor when deciding whether to hire, promote, or other employment benefits. Often it affects minorities, but there have been cases where whites have claimed that they have experienced reverse discrimination. Companies
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
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.
The world never seems to learn from its mistakes. Experiences that humanity never wanted to see again are surprisingly still present in today’s society. The Salem Witch Trials of 1693 are one of these experiences. Witch-hunts usually involve moral panic or mass hysteria, and in Salem’s case, the hanging of 19 people (Notes). Unfortunately, witch-hunts are still seen today. They target large masses of innocent people, often times because they fit a certain stereotype. Most of society does not want witch-hunts but personal and society values clash creating a hysteria-filled witch-hunt. The Crucible truly embodies the atmosphere and origin of witch-hunts. It shows that fear, strong beliefs, and greed cause both ancient and modern-day witch-hunts.
The modern day witch hunts are not taken as serious as Salem witch trials, although there are many things alike in many ways witch hunts are not the same concept now at all. Modern day witch hunts aren't really directed as “witches,” more as transracial or overweight etc. It's the way society identifies a person and how they view them on what they don't certainly agree with.