Power In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

642 Words2 Pages

Throughout The Crucible and Why I Wrote the Crucible by Arthur Miller, one can interpret that it is important for authors to advocate for social change. Authors have a significant amount of power over society; they have the power to influence and educate, but it is their choice whether or not to use that power for good. They have the power to bring certain issues to light and influence the way people today act. In Text 1, Tituba, the colored nurse, becomes an easy target to accuse of witchcraft because of her race and it takes no time for the girls to throw her into the fire. Arthur Miller shows throughout the Crucible that many people are unfairly accused because of their position in society or because of their nationality. Also found in Text 1, the character Mary Warren is also attacked because she is seen as just a servant to the Proctor family. …show more content…

The girls very easily gang up on Mary Warren in the court scene and have no problem targeting her if it means that they stay in the clear of accusations (Text 1). The author uses his story to highlight the racial prejudice that still exists in society today. He is using his power to make a difference, and he does so by focusing on how people are unjustly treated throughout time, which can teach a lesson to society today. Miller is using his reputation to show that all people should be treated equally and no one deserves to be judged. Arthur Miller takes a historical event, and creates a short story in which the readers can take something away from and think about the way they are treating their neighbors. Although authors do not have to use their power to teach their audience about social issues, Arthur Miller chooses to educate his audience about certain social issues that are important to him, which can change the way people look at these issues and can altogether improve

Show More
Related

  • Comparing Arthur MIller and John Proctor

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a protest paper to the brutality of the Red Scare .The Red Scare was the inoperable fear of Communism within the United States. This scare was caused as a result of the Cold War in the 1950’s. During the Cold War the US was scared of an attack of the Soviets, and the Soviets were equally as scared of an attack upon them by us. Joseph McCarthy, a Senator from Wisconsin, saw this fear as an opportunity to rise to power. McCarthy had many supporters that were primarily Republicans, Catholics, Conservative Protestants, and Blue-collar workers. McCarthy ruthlessly utilized scare tactics to get people to believe and follow him blindly into his accusations as to innocent citizens supporting Communism and either having them jailed or killed by providing phony evidence. Arthur Miller was not intimidated by this he wrote the Crucible as “an act of desperation” (Miller). This desperation was to counteract the lack of speaking out about personal beliefs during the Red Scare for the fear of breaking the law. In The Crucible, Miller wrote about a character named John Proctor who is very similar to Miller himself. Both the author and the character had to overturn the same personal paralyzing guilt, not speaking out soon enough. Nonetheless, their eventual overcoming of this guilt leads them to becoming the most forthright voice against the madness around them.

    Read More

  • Arthur Miller's The Crucible

    1468 Words  | 3 Pages

    Context: This part of the text is included at the beginning of the drama, telling the audience about Salem and its people. The author explains how a theocracy would lead to a tragedy like the Salem witch-hunts. This is the initial setting and is based on the principle that some people should be included and some excluded from society, according to their religious beliefs and their actions. This is basically the idea that religious passion, taken to extremes, results in tragedy. Miller is saying that even today extremes end up bad- communism, like strict puritans, was restrictive and extreme. It only made people suffer.

    Read More

  • Power In The Crucible

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power and fear can affect people´s sense of what's wrong and what's right. In “the Crucible” by Miller, we can see how the trials affected every individual in a negative aspect. people suffered because of such power and unfairness the authority had. The witch trials affected a lot of individuals from an emotional aspect to a psychological trauma.

    Read More

  • Courage In The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    814 Words  | 2 Pages

    likelihood of victory is small.” It is a person’s mental or moral strength to resist extreme

    Read More

  • Theme Of Oppression In The Crucible

    1020 Words  | 3 Pages

    Arthur Miller expresses the concept of oppression being present in every society through the characters of The Crucible. "It is still impossible for man to organize his social life without repressions." As discussed, personal motives, disputes and misuses of power, as well as distorted religious beliefs are the roots of the maltreatment in Salem. Miller’s statement and message is valid and applicable in every society, and for every

    Read More

  • Theme Of Power In The Crucible

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Crucible is a play with many underlying messages and themes. One of which is the idea of power. Power is a very important term in this play in that whoever holds the power, holds the fates of others. The hysteria within Salem has directly effected society. Everything has turned upside down and has gotten distorted. Arthur Miller is telling us that all the power in Salem is given to those who are corrupt and their abuse of it is directly shown through: the actions of Abigail throughout the play, the corruption and desires of Parris, as well as the witch trials held by Judge Danforth.

    Read More

  • How Does The Crucible Show The Nature Of Power And Authority

    2327 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    597 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many years ago, the culture and atmosphere was amazingly different. The expectations of people and communities are extremely high. During the Puritan times, many laws and regulations existed pertaining to government, religion, and witchcraft. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the one word that best describes the Puritan beliefs and the community structure is strict.

    Read More

  • The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible was founded in 1692 in and around the town of Salem. Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was viewed as one of the strangest and most horrendous chapter in the human history. People that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due. to false accusations of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and.

    Read More

  • Weakness, Jealousy, and Manipulation in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    In every conflict there always seems to be at least one person to blame. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many problems arise that deal with live and death. Many innocent people in this play were hanged during the Salem Witch Trials. Of course, there are many people that may be blamed. In The Crucible, one may find Abigail Williams, The Putnams, and Mary Warren to blame. Abigail was manipulative, The Putnams were very jealous, and Mary Warren was weak-willed.

    Read More

  • Abigail Reputation In The Crucible And Mccarthyism

    533 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written during the early 1950s.It was the time of The rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s.All throughout history, accusations of witchcraft have been used as an excuse for the discrimination of people who cultures, traditions, race, and ideas were not easily accepted nor understood by the society even if it was untrue.In today’s society students are taught this because it show’s how important “The Crucible, and McCarthyism were and what changes they went through because of the human condition.It is extremely important and appropriate because it allows students the opportunity to respond in terms of their own experiences .The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism had many similarities. In The Crucible Abigail

    Read More

  • Arthur Miller's The Crucible

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Persecution has been a round for sometime and can be traced historically from the time of Jesus to the present time. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith in the hands of the Jews. Many Christians have been persecuted in history for their allegiance to Christ and forced to denounce Christ and others have been persecuted for failing to follow the laws of the land. The act of persecution is on the basis of religion, gender, race, differing beliefs and sex orientation. Persecution is a cruel and inhumane act that should not be supported since people are tortured to death. In the crucible, people were persecuted because of alleged witchcraft.

    Read More

  • The Parallels Between Arthur Miller's Life and His Play, The Crucible

    1501 Words  | 4 Pages

    Miller’s life paralleled The Crucible in many ways. The characters in the play had many traits that resembled his. He and the people of Salem were censored by the frenzy of the times they were living in. The hysteria and the mob mentality exacerbated the anticommunists’ and the witch-hunters’ philosophies. The Red Scare affected Miller in the same way the witch hunts affected the people of Salem. As long as there are people with authority in the world, there will be challengers of authority. Censorship will always be used to make others conform. A majority of the public is and always will be easily influenced by hysteria and the mob mentality. Miller used his own experiences to write The Crucible, a play that describes universal behavior and the human condition.

    Read More

  • Power And Authority In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Power in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    811 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issues of power, that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, portrays are concerned with, who has the power, the shifts of power that take place and how power can consume people and try to abuse it, for either vengeance, jealously, material gain or sexual desire.

    Read More

More about Power In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Open Document