Violence In The Crucible

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Imagine being unjustly charged with witchcraft in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts. It is the day of the trial and you have two crummy choices: confess to being a witch even though you know deep down that is untrue, or defend your honor and assert that you are, in fact, not a witch. If you attempt the latter, you will unquestionably be hanged, burned to death, or pressed (a primitive and painful method of execution where a victim is gradually crushed underneath heavy rocks). Like many others at the time, you would probably select the first choice, because even though you must now live with the shame of being labelled a witch and affiliated with the devil, it doesn’t involve being flattened by a bunch of boulders. It was scenes like this, where people were treated violently and mercilessly, that generated the intensity of The Crucible. Written by Arthur Miller in 1953 and adapted into a movie in 1996, The Crucible was originally a play that allegorically depicted the Red Scare. The story is a tragedy and work of historical fiction that follows a group of girls, and the influence they have over an entire town, who are constantly …show more content…

The scenes existed to, in a way, stress and push the buttons of the viewers. Watching a town, which on the outside appears to be a very devout and holy town, begin to eat away at itself and slowly turn to the madness of hysteria, is what keeps the viewer on the edge of his or her seat. The buildup of the violence in the plot is gradual and done successfully, creeping up slowly on both the folks in Salem and us, the audience. There is always a little reminder of the darkness in Salem, whether it’s John Proctor beating Abigail, or Giles Corey slowly dying while being pressed. The evil of human beings and their nature to join in conspiracies and chaos never leaves, making The Crucible a perfectly terrifying and gross

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