The crucible by author miller The crucible by author miller demonstrates three main themes. It demonstrates abuse of power, revenge and how lies can ravage a community with hysteria. These three themes are outlined by many characters. Making the book have to main sides of witchcraft vs common sense. Society can be devastated by one person’s revengeful behavior. When someone wrongs somebody else they feel the need to one up what the person did to them, often making the situation worse and causing more damage that was done in the first place shortly after the 9 ⁄ 11 attack on the World Trade Center, 90% of Americans surveyed approved of retaliatory attacks in Afghanistan (Newport, 2001). It appears that ‘‘revenge in the heart’’ is a fairly common response to harm. (The Benefits, Costs, and Paradox of Revenge) John Procter has come to see past the girl’s pretense. He protests, ‘little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom and common vengeance rules the law.’(John Procter pg. 91) John Procter interjects that kids are jangling the keys to the kingdom. Implying the girls are willing to put other people livelihoods at risk by accusing them of witch craft to accomplish Abigale Williams’s agenda. …show more content…
When people pursue power, they step on others to get a leg up on the competition. Because of this people become power hungry and spiral out of control quickly. When Adolf Hitler ruled Germany (1889-1945) people tried to appease him instead of taking away his power because of this he was able to commit mass genocide. Abigale has so much power over the girls she scares them into not being able to tell the truth. Abigale dictates, “Let both of you breathe a word and I will come to you in the terrible black of night”. (Abigail Williams’s pg. 19) Abigale dictates the girls live; if one of them tries to stand up to her Abigail manipulates them with fear. Due to this none of the girls will protest her
I believe that Abigail Williams is to blame for turning the town of Salem against many people, and I think it is her fault that several people were killed. Abigail Williams sends the town into a state of hysteria by accusing men and women of practicing the satanic art of witchcraft. Abigail’s flaws - her lustful desire for John Proctor, her deceptive habit of lying in order to retain her good name in the town, and her selfishness and obsessive aspiration for power – led her to be ultimately responsible for the catastrophe of the witch hunt in Salem.
In conclusion, the theme on how hysteria can occur and corrupt the entire community is displayed in The Crucible. Miller depicts how people can become hysterical over nonsensical things and that hysteria can ruin many people's lives. The reader should understand this theme to be aware of how much we can get swept up in hysteria. Without this hysteria a teenage girl had no power until she cried out witchcraft, a man was not able to act on his revenge until accusing someone else. Fear caused the townsfolk to believe the crazy accusations that someone could actually be a witch. All they were hearing was lie after lie. It’s sad how they actually could believe them. Make you think twice when you hear of a rumor, doesn’t
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, focuses on the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that follows the trials. Miller shows how the dark desires and hidden agendas provokes such extreme behavior. The Crucible was written in a time when the anti-communist movement was strongly protested. During the Salem witch trials, a person was guilty until he proved himself
Here the girls follow Abigails lead by copying what Mary Warren is saying and convincing her that she is a terrifying bird in the rafters. These actions are committed most likely because Abigail sees Mary as flaw in her plan to gain total power. Therefore Abigail incites fear into Mary by jeering,“But God made my face, you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin Mary.” (106) This terrifies Mary because she knows that the court will not believe her if Abigail says that she is committing a sin. Next, the fear and hysteria build inside of Mary as the girls begin to copy her every word and act as if they are being attacked. This incident clearly shows how the corrupt behavior of the girls is chipping away at Mary’s power over the court and the power to control her actions. She then shows another element of a crowd mentality which is that it can convince others to behave irrationally. This is shown as,“ [the girls]let out a gigantic scream, and Mary as though infected, screams with them. Gradually Abigail and the girls leave off, until only Mary is left there staring at the ‘bird’ screaming madly.” (109). This sequence of events clearly shows how the action of the other girls sucks Mary into their game. Because of the crowd mentality and hysteria that formed in the courtroom, John Proctor, an innocent man, is convicted of witchcraft which gives even more power to
The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s. The story of The Crucible takes place against the background of the Salem Witch, trials but the themes lie much deeper. The main themes expressed in The Crucible relate to the events that occurred at both the Salem Witch Trials and during the McCarthy era. At the Salem Witch Trials, one hundred fifty people were accused of practicing witchcraft and nineteen of those were convicted and executed. The evidence against these people was hardly substantial. At the McCarthy hearings, thousands of people were “blacklisted.” Anyone who tried to oppose the accusations was also viewed as a Communist. No one was convicted due to the more advanced legal system; still, that did not erase the fear that was instilled by the allegations.
Throughout the play there are many instances that show these themes. The Crucible is a great way to show God’s power and people’s will to go against him. Like Abigail, the antagonist, she continues to start lie after leaned in the end she only hurts herself. This shows, as one follows the rules like Elisabeth Proctor, she's accused of witchcraft has lost multiple children and continues to follow the Lord’s path; one who walks with the Lord is more just than one who walks alone. The Crucible is a great play to learn the value of morals and what can happen if you don't obey
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.
Firstly, Abigail is one figure that blatantly abuses her newfound power in the play. " 'You are charging Abigail Williams with a marvelous cool plot to murder,
Explore Miller’s dramatic presentation and development of the theme of power and authority. Even though The Crucible is not historically correct, nor is it a perfect allegory for anti-Communism, or as a faithful account of the Salem trials, it still stands out as a powerful and timeless depiction of how intolerance, hysteria, power and authority is able to tear a community apart. The most important of these is the nature of power, authority and its costly, and overwhelming results. “But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or against it,” says Danforth conceitedly. With this antithesis, Miller sums up the attitude of the authorities towards the witch trials that if one goes against the judgement of the court
Many characters in The Crucible fall under the trap of lying, if not to other people, then to themselves. The Crucible is a fictional retelling of events in history, surrounding the Salem witch trials. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during 1692 and 1693. Additionally, Miller wrote the play as an allegory to mccarthyism, which is the practice of making accusations without evidence. In the play, Arthur Miller develops the theme of lies and deceit by showing Abigail lying for her own benefit, John Proctor committing adultery, and Elizabeth lying to protect her husband.
A crucible is a severe test or trial; at one point in their lives everyone is going to be faced with a crucible. When this severe test comes people are often put under a lot of pressure and do unexpected things. During the 1690's many people were put under a test when they were accused of witchcraft and put on trial for it. The test that some people had to undergo can be demonstrated in, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The characters Paris, Hale and Proctor were all put under pressure and revealed their true colors when they acted under the stress of the situation; Parris entered a power struggle, Proctor stood up for what was right, and Hale’s actions turned into regret.
The desire for power and authority has always been a part of the human nature. Today’s society most often use power to dominate one another and fulfill one’s personal intentions, which can affect other people in many ways. Having power and authority is truly gratifying but it is terrifying if abused and used for selfish acts. The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller is an example to illustrate the consequences of abuse of power. The characters Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris use their power over society by manipulating people and using their authority to fulfill their personal intentions, like material gain, vengeance, maintaining social status and reputation, and attention, which eventually lead into a mass hysteria.
In the Crucible, Arthur Miller shows us how fear and suspicion can destroy a community. As the play develops, Miller shows us how fear and suspicion increase and destroy the community. Throughout the play it becomes apparent that the community gets more and more divided as time goes on. In the beginning there were arguments about ownership of land between some of the villagers. As the story progresses people fear for their own safety and begin accusing their neighbours of witchcraft in order to escape being hanged.
And she revelled in it, before it became too dangerous. She, unblinkingly, sent countless people to their deaths; she effortlessly imposed dreadful fear upon the young girls in the village, to the extent that one was reduced to insanity. She thought not once to stop, the euphoric indulgence was too great for her, because she could, she did. Ironically throughout her diabolical reign the one redeeming feature she possessed enforced her actions and accusations most powerfully, her illusive childlike innocence.