Metaphors in Arthur Miller´s The Crucible

The Crucible may seem like a story solely about the Salem Witch Trials, however, it a

story of false theocratic power, uncertainty, and war. Arthur Miller focused on explaining his

time period, the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, to stress the corruption occurring in Washington

and society. He was a writer of truth and openness and was not afraid to shed his opinion to the

public, whether it made him popular or not. Arthur successfully sheds this opinion in the

Crucible by alluding to the Holy Bible, his motivation for writing the story itself, and bridging

the corrupt past to the indifferent corrupt present.

The allusions to the Bible tell a story with more satirical reference rather than a serious

intellectual reference. The name of the city “Salem” comes from the name Jerusalem from

Revelation 21, in which it is referred to as the holy city of Heaven (Beers, Jago, and Appleman,

1101). This allusion was meant to tell the holiness and fearful faith of the city. Only satanists

could destroy the city of Heaven, which mean they shall perish. This city of Heaven referr...