The Crucible: Characters

He fears that if Salem sees such respectable people like John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse hung that they will revolt. He understands that they are innocent and although he wants to let them go because of his own personal reasons he still represents hope in The Crucible. Since the beginning all Reverend Paris was concerned about was his reputation and he knew that the Witch Trials was a big mistake and he shows his guilt in Act 4. Although these characters hope does not translate into their fates it is good that in their destruction they still had something to hold on to. Almost every character in The Crucible try to correct their wrongs at the end of the play, but by that time it is to l

Abigail lies to save herself by giving the names of others to be killed. “You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!” (88). Abigail also uses threats of violence and the thought of her actually knowing some real witchcraft to scare them into not speaking up about what was really going on with her. She is very evil, and throughout the novel driven t... ... middle of paper ... ...imation of irony considering the prodigious amounts of lies are told in order to “protect” the court and the people of Salem. The process of proving the guilty and finding the innocent involved with witchcraft has a lot to do with the greed, selfishness and personal grudges that the characters display throughout the trials.

This bitter and vindictive personality of his causes him to value himself far above others. This explains why Putnam feels little remorse for using the witch trials as a tool to for personal gain even though the in order to do so he must hurt his neighbor. In the beginning of the play while arguing with John Proctor over land, Putnam threatens, “You load ... ... middle of paper ... ...of desperation he confesses to having an affair with Abigail and then explains this is why Abigail wishes to kill Elizabeth. When the court still does not believe him he cries out, “I have rung rung the doom of my good name - you will believe me” (Miller 111). Even though John Procter ruins his honor to stop Abigail, Elizabeth is still sentenced to hang.

Abigail became the perfect symbol for the devil in this play through lies, tricks, and lack of regard for anyone other than herself. Abigail’s accusations of witchcraft cause chaos in Salem; and many people she accuses are condemned because her vengeful accusations. It is only logical to believe that Abigail did not care about her fate because she was already damned due to her ties with the devil.

“Abigail: saw your face when she put me out, and you lov... ... middle of paper ... ...doing and try’s to stop it. He knows that it is wrong and wants to make a statement to end the false accusations to help save the town. In conclusion, John Proctor is seen as a tragic hero because of his tragic flaw, free choice, and increased awareness. His lust for sex, which was an affair with Abigail, leads her into accusing the proctors due to her jealousy of Elizabeth and her love for John. John had free choice of whether or not he was going to be hanged, but does not admit he is a witch because, it would hurt his family and leave his family name ruined forever.

Human Flaws in Arthur Miller's The Crucible Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches.

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 they are essentially breaking their relationship with God. Like everyone else in Salem, Danforth draws a clear line to separate the world into black and white. The concurrent running of the “Crucible” image also captures the quintessence of the courtroom as Abigial stirs up trouble among the people that have good reputation and loving natures in society. In a theocratic government, everything and everyone belongs to either God or the Devil. There are numerous examples of how Miller presents and develops the theme of power and authority, but it only unveils itself gradually through the play, due to each character’s hidden physical attitudes.

Without an unbiased panel of jury members, John Proctor’s trial was left solely to the magistrates. These magistrates were biased and relied on the word of the unreliable witnesses, and Proctor should have been represented by a defense attorney to simply cross-examine the children; thus the witness’ lies would be revealed and conflicting accounts would be made. Danforth though, mentions several times that Proctor did not need one: “The pure in heart need no lawyers.” (86). This proves to be untrue as Proctor exposes his actual crime of lechery to the court, but is still hanged for witchcraft. Accompanied with the flawed court, the judges were a major detriment to John Proctor’s case.

The Crucible is a story about a false accusation of civilians committing witchcraft which ends up creating massive hysteria due to the trials having a misled judge. Reverend Hale is the main priest of Salem which is the setting of the The Crucible. Judge Danforth is hired to inspect the accused individuals. Early in the story it is known he actually believed these individuals were guilty due to his biased speaking when talking to the Proctor family, “Do you know your Commandments Elizabeth?...And you, Mister?”. After Reverend Hale does his damage, he starts to see what he has truly done, that he has been blindly working for evil.

Logic and individual thought is overruled by hysteria which eventually justifies its own existence. Hysteria supersedes logic and causes people to believe that their neighbors whom they’ve known all their life and considered as upright people are committing absurd and preposterous doings such as, practicing witchcraft, worshiping the devil, etc. The people of Salem see traces of evidence of god and the devil in everything; however nobody has actually seen spirits though Abigail and the girls claim they do. The idea of supernatural means comes from the hysteria possessed within the people; they aren’t able to think logically about situations. A poppet symbolizes innocence; however, when Mary Warren gifted a poppet to Goody Proctor it was seen as a demonic figure all because of Abigail, who struck herself with a small pin in order to blame Goody Proctor for conducting witchcraft on her.