It is a common question people have asked and the question is what the difference between “Good” and “Evil” is. This is difficult to find an answer to because it has the requirement of a moral background to be present, meaning that being good can mean one thing to one person and then another to some other person who has different beliefs or morals. In the Play, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, “Evil” is brought up a myriad of times because of the fact that witches lay present in the Salem village, Massachusetts where the terror takes place. How evil is portrayed, people who aren’t witches but still have evil, and how evil is judged differently will be how “evil” is shown to be in the eye of the beholder.
Witchcraft is practiced in Salem
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This will demonstrate who does not appreciate the evil that is lurking in the town because witches were hung if they were found out to truly be witches. Witchcraft was thought to be a practice that came from the devil himself and satan is known to be the root of where evil comes from so with that in mind, it can be proven why the hanging of a witch was necessary for the well being of the village. Mary Warren, a friend of Abigail, who are themselves accused of witchcraft, says to Abigail that they “Have to tell..the truth” and “witchery’s a hangin’ error) (Miller, 837). This shows that witchcraft is heavily looked down upon to the point where witches are indeed hung. Witchery was apparently a sign of the “Devils work” and was viewed as an evil task. In Leviticus 20:27, it says “A man or a woman who is a medium or a necromancer shall surely be put to death” (OpenBible.info). This proved that the Christian Faith did not want anything that …show more content…
One of these people is John Proctor. Proctor had an affair with Abigail, who is a young girl still in her teenage years. We know this because Abigail and John have an argument about their affair (Miller, Page 838-839). Mr. Proctor even forgets the commandment about adultery when asked to recite the 10 commandments (Miller, Page 857). John is a sinful man, however, it is arguable to say that he is also an evil man based on the fact that everyone has a sinful tendency. It is Said that everyone is born with a sinful desire but John did Elizabeth receives a doll from Mary Warren as a “Peace Offering” but Mary had placed a needle inside of it to accuse Elizabeth. This is the tool Abigail uses to frame Elizabeth by saying she was stabbed with a needle at night by an evil spirit and Elizabeth's spirit is at fault. Abigail was not a witch but she is definitely an evil human who goes to extreme measures to get what she
"'A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.'" Act 3, Scene 1, pg. 78. 87. The characters in the play are either portrayed as good or evil with no in between, which makes life even harder for them. Salem mislabeled people in town as good or evil, but they had very little or no evidence at all to support it. Salem labels Rebecca nurse as a witch and evil, when really she was innocent and took care of everyone's babies. Abigail was an evil character who was a liar, vindictive and careless, the people of Salem viewed her as good character.
The Crucible is an incredibly influential play no only in the fact that it displays many important themes, but it also portrays how a theocracy impacts societal actions. The Salem witch trials were the culmination of the problems with theocracy. The actions of society, not only are impacted by their personal thoughts, but also in religious undertones affect them. Act two in the play portrays not only all of these themes, but also some important events leading towards the witchcraft hysteria. Act two in the play portrays how theocracy ultimately leads to chaos.
In 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is the hero of the play. He is a good man, described as being :
In the novel, Abigail starts the accusations by saying, "I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" Another girl, Betty, continues the cry with, "I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil!" From here on, the accusations grow and grow until the jails overflow with accused witches. It must have given them an incredible sense of power when the whole town of Salem listened to their words and believed each and every accusation. After all, children were to be seen and not heard in Puritan society, and the newfound attention was probably overwhelming.
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.
American author John Steinbeck once said, “Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts - perhaps the fear of loss of power”. As seen in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, people of authority can feel pressured to go along with actions or make decisions they know are wrong because they fear losing their power and influence in society. They also tend to let to their opinions and motives impact their work and responsibility to make competent decisions. The Crucible demonstrates how people of authority, like Parris and Danforth, try to use good judgement to make fair decisions, but are often influenced by their own personal opinions whether they realize it or not.
The Crucible – Characters and Changes & nbsp; Change is good for the future. " We hear the catchy phrase everywhere. From company slogans to motivational speeches, our world seems to impose this idea that change is always a good thing. Assuming that the change is for the better, it is probably a true statement in most cases. The root of this idea seems to come from the notion that we are dissatisfied with the state that we are in, so, in order to create a more enjoyable environment, we adjust.
In the Crucible, we are introduced to the main protagonist John Proctor; the way that Arthur Miller presents him by rebelling against the authority in Salem. Out of the entire town he is the only person that speaks out, realising that the authority is unfair and unjust; he is not like everyone else in the town who keeps quiet to themselves. There are many situations where we the readers can see very clear examples of him rebelling against the authority that controlled Salem. One example of Proctor rebelling against authority in Salem was when he did not go to church on a Sabbath day and instead decided to pray in his own home ‘Mr Proctor, your house is not a church; your theology must tell you that’. That is one clear example of him rebelling
The affair that happened between Abigail and Proctor was definitely was the start of all of witchcraft trials. While Abigail was in the woods with the girls from Salem she was wishing John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth, dead so that she could be with John. Abby was in love with John and was willing to do whatever she could to be with him. She would “wait for him every night” (Miller 145) hoping that John would leave his wife for her. While in the woods, they were spotted by many people who assumed that the girls were doing witchcraft. At first the
In conclusion, there is a substantial difference between the forces of good and evil in the play. The forces of good always tried to do what was best for everybody, even if it meant breaking some Puritan laws. The evil group did whatever was best for themselves. They were greedy, and had no consideration for others. It is always hoped that the good will prevail over the forces of evil but this was not to be in The Crucible. In the end, Abigail had succeeded in her wrongdoing, and had killed Proctor. Once again, evil emerged victorious...
A wise human once stated, “People are quick to believe the bad things they hear about good people”(Unknown). Bound by the nature of humans, many are hasty to believe inaccurate accounts, no matter the circumstances, whether the accounts have evidence, or if they have any veracity to them. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, the hysteric citizens of Salem, Massachusetts experience an outrageous witch hunt movement, accumulating a hefty death total of twenty citizens. The play begins with Reverend Parris, a relatively new Puritan minister in Salem, whose daughter, Betty Parris, is stuck in a coma-like state. Parris reveals that his niece Abigail, was seen dancing with Betty, and Tituba, Parris’ black slave from Barbados. Concerned about his reputation,
“Well, all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab an audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away from.” by Arthur Miller. All great works provide a way to reach in and grab the audience through the reoccurring themes like, greed, jealousy, reputation and hypocrisy. Arthur Miller had one of those great works and it was called “The Crucible”. The play was based off of the witch trials that happened in Salem in the year of 1962. Some of the characters were actual characters involved in the witch trials. Arthur Miller wrote this play during the time of the “Red Scare”. Miller wrote The Crucible because he wanted to turn the The Salem Witch Trials into
"All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil." This means that all conflict in any work is basically just a fight between the forces of good and evil. The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne show that this statement is true.
Great events, whether they are beneficial or tragic ones, bring change in a person. These scenarios can give one an entirely new perspective on life, and turn around his way of thinking. Events such as the Salem Witch Trials show the people involved what they could not see before. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Elizabeth Proctor, Reverend Hale, and John Proctor gain valuable insight into themselves, as well as others.
Charles was a greedy man. He was cold hearted and never philanthropic. This "Scrooge" was the CEO of a multi-million dollar stock company in New York City. Charles often told his employees that honesty is the key to success and that he would not tolerate liars. When approached by a potential client himself, he told the client that he would be sure to consult with him before making any major decisions. As soon he left the room, however, he transferred all of the man's stock to a different holder without asking the man's permission. As long as the outcome benefited him, dishonesty was acceptable. This man's hypocrisy parallels Arthur Miller's novel about the Salem witch trials. In The Crucible, the theme of hypocrisy plagues the pages and the three characters that exemplify this theme the most are Danforth, Paris, and Mary Warren.