Analysis of The Crucible by Arthur Miller

When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953, World War II had ended only about eight years earlier, and a massive fear of communism, or a red scare, was running amok in the United States. This led to the McCarthy trials, where Sen. Joseph McCarthy would accuse people of being communists without evidence to back up the accusations. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams points out many different girls whom she accuses of being witches, and she too has not one piece of evidence to prove her right, other than her word over theirs. There are many different reasons why Abigail would accuse the other girls of Salem of being witches, including intolerance, hysteria, reputation, and empowerment. Intolerance is a major factor in a society in which the church and the state are one, and the religion is a strict form of Protestantism known as Puritanism. Because of the poor nature of the society, moral laws and state laws are one and the same. Sin and the status of an individual’s soul are matters of public concern. There is no room for deviation from the social norms of society since any individual whose private life doesn’t conform to the established moral laws represents a threat to good and/or true religion. “A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it,” Danforth (Miller 221). Hysteria can play a major role in tearing apart a community. Hysteria supplements logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are committing absurd and unbelievable crimes—compacting with the devil. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate, not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act upon long-held grudges. The most obvious case is Abigail, who uses the situation to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft and has her sent to jail. Others thrive on hysteria as well: Rev. Parris strengthens his position within the village, albeit temporarily, by making scapegoats of people like (John) Proctor, who questioned his authority (Miller 212). The wealthy, ambitious Thomas Putnam gains revenge on Francis Nurse by getting Rebecca Nurse, Francis’ wife, convicted of the supernatural murders of Ann Putnam’s babies (Miller 234-237). In the end, hysteria can thrive only because people benefit from it. It suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the cover of righteousness.