...reoccurring problem better than anyone. He states, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” True to this statement, hundreds of years before The American Civil War and World War II were the Salem Witch Trials where people were segregated simply on suspicion of witchcraft. Two eye-opening, fictional retellings of this tragedy are The Crucible...
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...The word “crucible” is defined as a severe test or trial, or a vessel that can withstand intense heat and is used for melting substances. In the play written by Arthur Miller called the “Crucible”, the word applies to many characters as they progress and attempt to resolve their conflicts. During the play, we watch as the town of Salem has a witch hunt hysteria in which many Puritans are falsely accused by teenage girls. The word crucible is significant to the consequences that Mary Warren, Giles Corey, and John Proctor go through during this time of mass hysteria. Mary Warren was one of the girls that was found conjuring spirits in the forest with Tituba and the other girls. However, when she made a poppet for Elizabeth Proctor, she accused Elizabeth of making it in order to avoid being blamed of hurting Abigail.. This led to Mary becoming one of the main accusers of witchcraft in Salem. “Proctor: ‘We will slide together into our pit; you will tell the court what you know.’ Warren: ‘I cannot, they’ll turn...
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...Within The Crucible, the main threat may be witchcraft to the naked eye. To those reading in this day and time, the true threat is brought to light. That peril is the power of groupthink. This is dangerous because groupthink can manipulate the mind to do things that the affected is not aware of. As groupthink is featured prominently in both Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era, Miller uses the springboard of the trials to show that the influence of others is stronger than we think. Groupthink is the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. Groupthink originates with group polarization. “This means that a group of likeminded people reinforce one another’s viewpoints. Group polarization strengthens of the opinions of each person in the group (R. Henderson).” Going from real life cliques, to movies such as Mean Girls, or even in books such as The Crucible; groupthink and group polarization can be found anywhere....
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...The Crucible The Crucible is a play written in 1952 that had a movie adaption made nearly 45 years later. Usually we see the pattern that the movie doesn't follow the original script. In this case, The Crucible movie adaptation followed the play closely.This is because they were both meant to be seen. Yet, there are still some differences that occurred for dramatic effect. When developing a movie there is more stress to develop scenes so viewers get the chance to “visualize” and have their emotions become touched by the tone the screenplay writer sends. Producers aim for perfection. In order to achieve this they alter scripts and add scenes to make their vision of a perfect movie come become a reality. One major difference...
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...Trials In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the theme of hysteria is dominantly present throughout the entire play. It is not hard to narrow down the cause of the widespread hysteria to three people that inevitably had their hand in the trials. The devious character, Abigail, shows her wicked mind and skill of manipulation in the play so she can get what she wants, John Proctor. The slave, Tituba, gave into the accusations and started the hysteria of the witch trials. The last character that contributed to an entire town’s belief in witches would be Danforth. His stubborn and narrow minded attitude had people dangling from a rope. It is easy to say that Abigail Williams is the triumphant ringleader of the accusers in The Crucible. Constantly pointing fingers, she named name after name and everyone believed her whole heartedly. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris accused Abigail of witch craft but to avoid punishment she passed the blame to Tituba saying “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba…” (Miller 42). Abigail took no responsibility for her actions but blamed another person claiming, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!” (Miller 43). Once Tituba confessed to witchcraft, Abigail joined in by accusing others of witchcraft so the negative attention would not be on the girls. Once Abigail started accusing people, Betty woke up from her “infinite” sleep and joined in along with the other girls. When the trials began, it was Abigail who kept the charade going...
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...Dylan Gates Mr. Woody 4 November 2012 Accelerated English 2 Crucible Essay Straying from Puritanism The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was produced in 1953. To this day, the play remains very popular. In this play, Miller talks about a witch-hunt that took place in 1962 which compares to the “Red Scare” that went on in Washington, D.C. in the 1950s. Miller writes about a Puritan village with a Christian religion that seems to be forgotten when under pressure. Puritans are taught to stick to their Christian beliefs, and in The Crucible, they simply stray away from the beliefs and violate them to save their own life. One instance where they go away from their puritan beliefs is that the people of Salem drift away from each other and turn on each other. One very strong belief of Puritanism is that unity among them strengthened their community. In a Puritan community, they take care of each other’s needs and look out for their neighbors. In The Crucible, they certainly do not take care of one another. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Almost everyone in the play becomes very egocentric. This is all the effect of the accusations of witchcraft in Salem. Another instance where they stray from their Puritan religion is that they break many of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the ten basic rules that shall not be broken by any means by a firm Christian believer. One of the ten commandments they break during the play is killing. The bible clearly states in...
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...On The Crucible “The Crucible” is a play that provides a fictitious recollection of the Salem Witch Trials. It was written by Arthur Miller during early 50’s otherwise known as the Mccarthy Era. During this time it is important to address that they were going through many of the same cases as the witch trials. They experienced people being accused out of spite, they even killed people who were accused of being spies. In the play there are many lessons that could be learned, that could teach us even today. In the play you are introduced to many characters, as well as an array of fatal flaws with them. Even today there isn’t a perfect person, not everyone goes to church, knows the ten commandments, and makes the necessary contributions...
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...Thematic Questions 1. What is a crucible and how is it used? Justify Miller’s choice of title for his play. A crucible is a ceramic container that can withstand very high temperature and is used for metal, glass and pigment production as well as a number of modern laboratory processes. Miller’s choice of the title “The Crucible” is due to the same reason as the courtroom being referred to as a crucible: using the heat of questioning and scrutiny, they burned away all the impurities, i.e. lies and half-truths, to get the purified product the “truth”. 2. How do Hale’s preconceptions influence his interpretation of events? How does his interpretation change? What are the implications of his conversion? Hale’s preconceptions has influenced his interpretation of events in that he initially thought that he had the authority over the town due to his extensive knowledge of witchcraft. He expected to find witches, however his interpretation changes throughout the play as he realises that innocent townspeople are being falsely accused, such as John Proctor. The implications of his conversion are when he encourages the accused to confess, i.e. the good people to lie, even though he believes that he is doing the “Devil’s work”. 3. Proctor calls Hale “Pontius Pilate.” Explain the allusion. Do you agree or disagree? The allusion is that Pontius Pilate was the ruler in Bethlehem who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the order of the Jewish leadership, despite the...
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..."Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven" (1156 Crucible). Mass hysteria has been an issue all throughout history. The root cause of this is usually just misinformation or straight up lies. Although sometimes you cannot blame the people who regard the hysteria as truth. Threatening someone's livelihood, family, and well being causes them to think irrationally. Mass hysteria in a time or crisis can result in an overreaction and loss of critical thinking. Examples of this throughout history are the Salem Witch Trials, The Red Scare, and the 2012 Mayan Calendar scare. Within the Salem Witch Trials, was a vast amount of hysteria that cost the lives of many people. Religion and “the devil” played a key role in the cause of the trials and even does today “The Christian belief in the existence of the Devil is widely accepted in modern-America” (Kenneth). The use of unknown evils as well as spectral evidence to instill fear into the commoners propelled the hysteria “witchcraft is... an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore, who may possibly be witness to it?” (Miller). Leaders of the court realize that witchcraft is something with no real evidence to it other than he said she said. Evidence during this time was allowed to be completely circumstantial, which in turn made claims by people get too much traction too quickly. Even the more level headed characters in the crucible could succumb to the nonsense. One of...
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...right was not in effect. The judges accused people of being witches without any real evidence, they were guilty until proven innocent. However, Reverend Hale was one voice of reason. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale goes from assisting the accusers of witchcraft, to denouncing the accusations. In the beginning of The Crucible, Reverend Hale is somewhat skeptical, but doesn’t reject the idea that there are witches in Salem. When he arrives, he states, “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.” (Miller 1146) This tells me that Hale is not ready to do something impetuous, and wants to do some investigating before anyone is indicted of any wrongdoing. Hale is a holy man, but also a man of substance and...
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...The Crucible Act Three Questions Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Describe one piece of evidence that Giles, Francis, or Proctor bring before the court to show that the girls are lying. 2. What does Abigail do to distract Danforth from Hale’s accusations that she is lying? 3. How does Hale show that he believes that the court is not doing the right thing? Use three details from the text in your response. 4. Danforth explains that “. . . a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between.” What conclusion can you draw about Danforth’s character from this line? 5. How does Hale excuse Elizabeth’s lie about Abigail’s affair with Proctor? 6. Danforth explains that witchcraft is an invisible crime and that only the victims are reliable. How does his philosophy flame the hysteria? Use details from the drama to support your response. 7. How do Hale and Parris try to thwart each other, or act as foils, in regards to Danforth and the court? Use details from the drama to support your response. 8. Describe the point at which you think the plot reaches its highest intensity, or climax. 9. After the outbreak in court, Mr. Danforth makes the following short statement to Mr. Hale: I will have nothing from you, Mr. Hale! In your own words, describe what Mr. Hale has said or done to instigate Mr. Danforth’s...
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...Abigail Williams, or Abby, was afflicted by some “spirit”. She is manipulative and wants everything to go her way. She is around 17 years old. She started out as The Proctors helper but then was fired by Mrs. Proctor because she thought Abby and Mr. Proctor were secretly getting together. It was Elizabeth Proctor's arbitrate to send Abby off. Elizabeth makes it ascertain as possible that she didn’t do any witchcraft. The girls were unintelligible. For several motivations, Abigail Williams used the power through false witchcraft accusations to feed her infatuation for John Proctor. Abigail and her friends were dancing in the woods. Dancing is forbidden in their village and Mr. Parris found the girls. While he tried to get his daughter to wake up the day after he found them, she would not. He called the doctor and there was another girl who would not wake up. He blamed Abigail for doing witchcraft because he saw a pot and something inside it move. She told him that it was not that and they were just dancing in the woods. She did not want anything bad with her name. “You drank blood, Abby! You didn’t tell him that!” (Applebee et al. 175). “John, have you ever shown her somewhat of contempt? She cannot pass you in the church but you will blush-.” (Applebee et al. 197). Abigail did not have a good word in the community. There was word around the village...
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...Thomas Putnam—The Crucible Jurat in Curia. “We veryly beleive that John Proctor the prifoner att the barr has many times afflected and tormented the affore faid parfons by acts of witchcraft.” Jurat in Curia. “Ann and Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams were feveral times and grevioufly tortured at the examination of Rebekah Nurfe wife to Francis Nurfe.” Jurat in Curia. These three words, which were inscribed in history over four hundred times, belong to one man only. “Jurat in Curia.” Signed: “Thomas Putnam.” Thomas Putnam, born in 1653, was a third generation member of Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the eldest son to Ann Putnam and Thomas Putnam Sr., one of Salem’s wealthiest residents, in a family of eight children. After Ann died, Thomas Putnam Sr. had another child with who became Mary Putnam. This last child, Joseph, was born when Thomas...
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...Salem witch trials This research paper is to show the events of the Salem witch trail of 1692 and how it affected American literature. Authors who were inspired to tell the story have written multiple books. The authors wrote about how the resident turned on each other to get what they wanted, and the strict supersticous religious practice they followed. And to tell the personal conflicts that had existed throughout the community. The Salem witch trail began in February 1692 due to a group of teenage girls playing fortune-telling game to see whom their future husband would be. They were caught in the act of fortunetelling game witch is not acceptable in there puritan society. After these event Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr, Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon, Mary Warren and Elizabeth Booth started to show symptoms. The symptom the girls started to experience fits, hiding under furniture, uncontrollable pain and experiencing fever. In February Samuel Parris called for doctor to come and check if there was anything medically wrong with the girls. The doctor was unable to find any problems with the girls. The doctor later suggested that The girls might be bewitched. The girls later began to name people who they believed bewitched them. They named the social outcast of Salem. They accused three women, the three women they accused were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn and a slave named Tituba. These women were seen as easy target to...
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...Arthur Miller wrote an imaginatively creative interpretation of the famous Salem Witch Trials in his 1953 fictional play The Crucible. Though the actual details of these true events are unknown, Miller takes his audience back to the overtly religious town and brings to life characters found in historic documents from the 1692 hearings. He cleverly unfolds an intriguing tale of possibilities about the Salem witch hunt which occurred during an era when America was partially unsettled and primitive. This harsh setting easily produced a fear that overshadowed many predominately puritan settlements where it was common to attribute every occurrence, no matter how small, to good or evil, the Lord or Lucifer. The strict environment was bound by rules...
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