Fear In The Crucible

As American satirist Henry Louis Mencken once wrote, “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear--fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.” Mencken’s skeptical view on fear can be influenced by the fact that individuals lose a sense of logic when fear is present. Fear, an unpleasant feeling, is caused in order to avoid the consequences of a situation because one is afraid; therefore, fear often takes control of one’s mind as individuals choose to be fearful rather than realizing logical knowledge can change the outcome of a situation. This ideology is illustrated throughout the events in The Crucible as playwright Arthur Miller suggests through contrasting characters that

Rebecca Nurse is portrayed to have a sense of what is right and wrong as her moral compass remains untainted throughout the play. When Betty lay unconscious, people of Salem quickly led to the conclusion that witchcraft was prevalent in their community. However, Rebecca says, “Pray calm yourselves. I have eleven children, and I am twenty-six times a grandma...and when it come on them they will run the Devil bowlegged keeping up with their mischief,” (33). Rebecca believes that the girls are just in another one of their “silly seasons” and ultimately tries to calm the people of Salem. In contrast to many of the other characters in the play, Rebecca and her actions are not influenced by a need for an increase in social image or reputation; Rebecca is merely portrayed as a saint for she remains to have a pure mindset and reputation. When Rebecca is arrested for witchcraft, Reverend Parris is shocked and ultimately doubts the court’s decision. Parris tells Judge Hathorne that if Rebecca were to be accused and killed, she will “stand upon the gibbet and send up some righteous prayer, and I fear she’ll wake a vengeance on you,” (129). Here, Miller emphasizes by showing Rebecca’s impact on the Salem community. By stating how she’ll “wake a vengeance on you,” Miller indicates that Rebecca’s holiness remains untouched for even Reverend Parris

In The Crucible, Miller demonstrates through the characters, that those who are concerned with self-preservation, ultimately respond to these frightening changes around them by allowing the fear of the unknown to take control over their own moral goodness. However, some characters keep their integrity intact by remaining skeptical and critical over the accusations made, as they refuse to accept the power that fear and mass hysteria holds in Salem. In short, in The Crucible, the dominating fear component, due to the false accusations made, eventually led the people of Salem to act irrationally, and essentially putting individuals to a test to see how far one will go to protect themselves or their loved