Manipulation In The Crucible

The Crucible by Arthur Miller depicts the Salem Witch Trials during the 17th century in
Salem, Massachusetts. Based on betrayal, the story focuses on personal truth, and most importantly the concept of manipulation of power within the community. Throughout the play, the people struggle with the idea of the outsiders versus them. The trials in the community are due to a group of girls who do not want the blame for playing with the spirits in the forest. Ironically, the witch trials were due to the repression of individual expression in the community, since the girls were not allowed to express themselves through dance. In turn, it is throughout this play that Miller argues that the influence of power within the community is sustained, challenged,

Even though Abigail is a "strikingly beautiful girl, an orphan, with an endless capacity for dissembling," she is still at the bottom of the social latter (Miller, 9). However, she gains power through the role of the accuser. Abigail is the primary person who uses fear to manipulate the other girls of the community. The narrator states that the witch-hunt was "not a mere repression…It was also a long overdue opportunity for everyone so inclined to express his guilt and sins publicly, under the cover of accusations against the victims" (Miller, 7). Abigail uses the witch trials as an opportunity to gain social power by playing the role of the accuser against anyone who opposes her. She abuses her power through the act of playing the victim. Abigail states, "[She] will come to [the girls] in the black of some terrible night and [she] will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder [them]" if the other girls of the community told the truth that they were all messing with magic (Miller, 19). At first, the children are depicted as innocent, and that the adults must protect them from the illusions of the devil, however, Abigail later appears only to be acting out of malicious pleasure. Ultimately, the adults acknowledge the fear created by the people of the village. The adults are the ones who use the trials to justify their violence in protecting the children. The violence resulted in the adults believing they had power over the devil that had come to