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The crucible and today's society
The crucible and contemporary society
The crucible and today's society
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What does “The Crucible” suggest about human behavior in a crisis? “The crucible” written by Arthur Miller, narrates that through the accusations spread in Salem, in times of immediate danger, it becomes human nature for individuals to resort to self preservation and push their responsibilities to others in a resort to save themselves. In result, in order to live, they resort to confessing false truths and assumptions. On the contrary, although is it human nature to resort to self preservation, there are individuals who use this opportunity to benefit themselves and others who tend to sacrifice themselves to uphold their own principles and morale beliefs. Portraying the contrasts between morale conflicts within the up holdings of human behavior, …show more content…
This is highlighted through Abigail’s remorse within the development of the story, as the village spreads false accusations and rumors of witchcraft out of refute. Abigail is interrogated and Minister Hale becomes evident of her undertaking of displaying “witchcraft” she resorts to confessing false truths on Tituba’s undertaking and the “power” she possesses, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”. By pushing away another’s responsibilities, it provided false peace among the villagers, under the plead of the victim escaping of the Devils compacting. This is further narrated through Tituba’s plead to live, as Tituba originally declines her “compact” with the devil, she becomes persuaded by the threats of Reverend Parris to be hanged “She must be taken and hanged!” into enlisting others and accusing them under working for the devil “I do believe somebody else be within’ these children” in the attempt to plead for mercy, referring back towards individuals tending to show human behaviors that resort to self preservation and desperation. As to live was to lie, since “life is God’s most important gift” victims tend to sway from the truth in the resort to save one’s …show more content…
Putnam’s loss, in the end, she sacrificed herself trying to uphold her own morales in the acts of going against god’s will. Moreover, John Proctor sacrifices his own pride in the attempt to reveal the truth “a man will not cast away his good name. You surely know that”, he is ultimately brought turned down upon. As he finds himself revealed to the harsh realties of life, he is ultimately left isolated by his peers, “He wakes me every night, his eyes were like coals and his fingers claw my neck, and I sign, I sign.” in the attempt to uphold his truth and morales“I say – I say – God is
The tragic tale of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts was re-written by Arthur Miller in the form of the play “The Crucible”. The trials have been studied to figure out what really happened, but no one will ever know since it happened decades ago. The play is the closest reenactment we have to help us see how people could have reacted to life. “The Crucible” shows how using others as a cushion to keep from being punished can go extremely bad. Amidst all the chaos a man by the name Reverend John Hale came to help but ended up with making it a huge amount worse.
In order to avoid charges, Abigail deflects the blame onto Tituba, the family servant, by saying that she forced her to drink blood. After realizing that the town might hang her for her crimes, Tituba confesses to witchcraft and accuses the low-class women of Salem, hoping that it might lighten her punishment. The town quickly breaks into hysteria as Mary is pulled into the center of the drama and the authorities ask her to testify against the accused. Realizing that her life is still under threat of Abigail if she doesn't do what Abigail asks of her, Mary lies on stand, ensuring her safety, as well as the death of two innocent women. Overwhelmed with culpability, Mary attempts to justify her
In the 1950s, the Red Scare over Communist infiltration grasped America, turning friends against one another and prompting Communist accusations left and right. If accused, you could confess to Communism and accuse others, or face indictment yourself. This concept is quite similar to the Salem witch trials, in which accused witches were put in the same predicament. Written during the Red Scare, Arthur Miller produced a play called The Crucible, which uses the Salem witch trials as an allegory for the Communist hysteria. In this play, rumors of witchcraft stemmed from the boredom of a few teenage girls, and blossomed into an unprecedented hysteria. Accusations became widespread, and, since confession was the only way to avoid a hanging, confessions became widespread as well. When only a small group of stubborn resisters were left, the main character John Proctor had to make a difficult decision on whether he should confess or hang, and ends up hanging along with a few others to help save the integrity of their community. In his play The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that while some may view self-sacrifice as a pointless loss due to pride, the decision to sacrifice one’s life for the good of his community and the elimination of conformist attitudes is very noble. The enormity of this decision can instill a feeling of guilt and responsibility upon another, as occurs to the protagonist John Proctor, and can cause one’s views and actions to be altered.
Through time it can be seen that the worls has a nature of repeating its history. We can learn a lot about reading Author Millers text the crucible as his own experience and setting of the troubling cold war has been reflected onto the characters of John Proctor and Giles Corey which give me a deeper understanding of them. Because of the parallel settings of Author Miller’s era, the 1950’s cold war, and the text’s setting the 1692 Salem witch hunt, I begin to question my own ideas of doing the right thing and if it came down to it, that I should always try to as good things will come of staying true.
Life as a human is dictated by an inborn hunger or purpose, and people, in general, will act on this hunger for their own personal gain in their individual ways. This hunger, be it for wealth, land, love, power, revenge, or pride, can, and will be the undoing or failing of all mankind as Miller so clearly points out in his play 'The Crucible';. This essay will explore the motives of characters within the play and even the motives of Arthur Miller himself and therefore show how conflict stems from certain recognisable human failings including those mentioned above, fear, and hysteria.
In the courtroom Mary Warren is trying to save Elizabeth 's life, but Abigail turns the position around to make it seem like Mary Warren is coming after the girls with "the use of ‘spectral evidence’ as proof of guilt" (Miller, Why... 4). Spectral evidence is where anyone can claim that someone 's spirit was sent out after them, and the person accused is hanged unless they confess to signing with the Devil. Abigail is using this to her advantage, and claiming Mary has sent out her spirit after the girls, further leading to Mary Warren "pleading” at Abby, “you mustn’t” (Miller 107). Mary Warren is pleading for Abigail to stop pointing fingers, and for her to stop acting out. Mary Warren having to plead for Abigail to stop displays a sign of weakness, and this weakness comes from the fear of what Abigail is turning the situation into. Abigail makes Mary Warren seem guilty in the trial, by acting out to the court that Mary Warren 's spirit was after her, "Mary Warren, utterly confounded, and becoming overwhelmed by Abigail 's-and the girls '- utter conviction, starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless, and all the girls begin whimpering exactly as she does" (108). The girls are mimicking Mary Warren 's actions in order to save themselves from being caught in the hoax. Additionally, the girls try to convince the court that Mary Warren is with the devil, for she is controlling them and that power only comes from Satan himself. This instigation causes Mary Warren to throw her hands up in tears, which represents her loss of hope due to Abigail 's representation of the situation. Mary Warren is afraid of Abigail, and realizes the only way to make Abigail stop accusing her is to side with her. As Proctor tries to calm Mary, she shouts, "I’ll not hang with you! I love God, I love God" (110). Mary shouting at Proctor that she loves God implies that she is siding with Abigail once again,
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a play that discusses many issues and spurs contemplation within the reader. While reading this play, because of the controversy of many issues detailed within, it is difficult for one not to take a look at one’s own morals and determine what one would do if placed in a similar situation. The key issues discussed within this play, the effects of hysteria, marital betrayal, and the murderous powers of lies, are portrayed intriguingly and effectively. The lessons that can be learned from The Crucible are still quite applicable today.
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
His original belief that admitting his affair with Abigail will irreparably ruin his reputation compels him to remain silent, ultimately setting into motion the accusations that will destroy the community. The government of Salem falls victim to corruption and tyranny, fostering an environment of hysteria where friends accuse each other of participating in devil worship and witchcraft. In facing a decision to sign his name to a false statement in order to save his own life, Proctor realizes that his very existence will be worthless if he loses his soul in the process. In choosing death, John Proctor restores the goodness and decency that he lost, recovering the immeasurable value associated with his good name. Motivated by the moral compass that has directed his life except for one period of weakness, Proctor is able to shed his guilt ridden past and die
The plot of the play is pushed by her lies because of the severe consequences they cause and the hysteria that floods the town’s once pure society. Abigail commits her first lie as she tells her uncle Parris and Reverend Hale of Beverly, “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (43) Abigail Williams has been questioned by both her Uncle Parris and Hale, a weighty spiritual doctor that has been called into their town, about what she and her friends were doing in the forest when her uncle spotted them. While Abigail knew the conjuring of spirits and casting a spell upon Elizabeth Proctor was not permitted in the Puritan society and could lead to banishment or death of both her and her friends, she decides to give in to the propensity to lie and put the blame elsewhere. Her initial motivation to lie about what she was doing in the forest stemmed from the natural tendency to avoid punishment, however a deeper motivation blooming from this lie comes from her desire to seek vengeance on Elizabeth Proctor and conceal her lonely emotions she has towards Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor. Abigail and John both commit the sin of adultery, however while John deeply regrets his behaviors with Abigail and condemns himself back to his marriage with Elizabeth, Abigail has not accepted that fact of being alone and forgotten about. When she blames Tituba for being
Self-preservation is an underlying idea throughout the plot of The Crucible. In the society during the witch-hunt, one could only avoid being blamed falsely for non-existing crimes was to claim that others (usually a smaller group of individuals) were the ones to blame as they force the accused to carry out deeds. This led to an era of false accusations just as during McCarthyism where someone’s good name was easily diminished. Miller introduces self-preservation in Abigail’s response to harshly interrogated. Abigail realizes the error she has made in her actions in the past and sees that she will get into trouble; thus, she quickly changes her stance by shouting “She made me do it, She made Betty do it”(43). This is a great example of how people in societies being governed or manifested by hypocrisy deal with deflecting blame as they can easily without a just claim blame others for their own wrongs. As a result to Tituba’s accusation of being a witch, Parris (his master) repeatedly shouts at her “Their names, their name!”(47) in order wash away Tituba’s affiliation with witchcraft, as her confession and ...
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, John Proctor, a proud and frustrated farmer of Salem, chooses to die rather than to give a false confession to witchcraft. Many might view this act as that of a selfless martyr; on the other hand, it can more readily be seen as the height of human stupidity in the face of vanity and pride.
The deterioration of Salem's social structure precipitated the murders of many innocent people. Arthur Miller's depiction of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible, deals with a community that starts out looking like it is tightly knit and church loving. It turns out that once Tituba starts pointing her finger at the witches, the community starts pointing their fingers at each other. Hysteria and hidden agendas break down the social structure and then everyone must protect themselves from the people that they thought were their friends. The togetherness of the community, the church and legal system died so that the children could protect their families' social status.
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.
The play “The Crucible” is an allegory for the McCarthyism hysteria that occurred in the late 1940’s to the late 1950’s. Arthur Miller’s play “the crucible” and the McCarthyism era demonstrates how fear can begin conflict. The term McCarthyism has come to mean “the practice of making accusations of disloyalty”, which is the basis of the Salem witch trials presented in Arthur Miller’s play. The fear that the trials generate leads to the internal and external conflicts that some of the characters are faced with, in the play. The town’s people fear the consequences of admitting their displeasure of the trials and the character of John Proctor faces the same external conflict, but also his own internal conflict. The trials begin due to Abigail and her friends fearing the consequences of their defiance of Salem’s puritan society.