...The Crucible Essay “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does no feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela). In simpler terms, courage is when something that a person believes in, is more important than the fear that comes with the consequences of that belief. The Crucible has many key themes, but the theme that has the broadest effect on the reader is courage. John Proctor is a great example of the courage shown. While, Abigail Williams shows immense cowardice. Throughout the Crucible many characters have to face the horrendous decision of whether to confess to have ‘been with the devil’ and lose their ‘good name’ or bee executed for that of which they did not do. John Proctor is a great example of a character with extraordinary courage. John although pressured to confess and knowing that he’ll hang, refuses to ruin his ‘good name’ and he does not fully confess to the crime. When Judge Danforth would not give up the argument with John to sign the confession, he asked, “Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why will you not let me have it?” (pg.1231). Proctor answered, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg.1232). These quotes show how strong willed John is in not having a bad reputation and how John has great courage and doesn’t lie just to live. However that John may express great courage...
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...The cauldron The Crucible a play written by Arthur Miller is a story about the the witch trials in Salem. The theme of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, is that dishonesty started and perpetuated the witch trials, while honesty brought about their end . The girls started the witch trials in Salem. Lies from the accused kept the trials going. The Honest brought about their end. The girls started the witch trials in Salem with their dishonesty and lies. It started when Abigail and Parris talking about, why they (the girls) were dancing in the woods. Then Proctor shows up and Abigail tells him the truth, Betty starts to scream and hale shows up Abigail tells him that Tituba’s a witch. “She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayers”(Miller 46). In this quote...
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...Miller's The Crucible, Self-Preservation is very common in the town of Salem. Self-Preservation is when a person protects themselves or someone else, whether it be by telling the truth or a lie. In the town of Salem many people use Self-Preservation to protect themselves from the consequences of performing witchcraft. However, others may use Self-Preservation to protect their reputation or image in society, such as Reverend Parris. He himself started, what is called a chain of self-preservation when he reported Abigail Williams and the girls performing witchcraft. This led to Abigail having to use self-preservation to protect herself from the consequences of witchcraft which later on led Elizabeth Proctor to protect herself and her...
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...responsibility for your actions is mature and the right thing to do. In The Crucible Arthur Miller creates a dramatic story about a small town in which the only way to get yourself out of trouble is to point the finger. If you were to point your finger and blame someone else it saved your life but also possibly ended someone else's life. In The Crucible Abigail is the one to blame because she is a liar, inconsiderate, and a manipulative young woman. Abigail is not only just a liar she is a pathological liar, and she demonstrates this trait many times throughout the play. When Parris and Abigail are talking in Betty’s room she says, (Miller 138). This shows us how Abigail is a pathological liar because, Abigail knows she didn’t just dance...
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...Miller's play, The Crucible. In 1692, the witch trials played a huge role in the lives of people in Salem, Massachusetts. The townspeople feared witchcraft so much that it created confusion regarding who was actually a witch and who was not. Many accusations were made leaving innocent people responsible for the mysterious acts of witchcraft. Abigail Williams reveals her impurity by doing just this. Abigail constantly lies to the court and does everything in her power to save herself, even if it means falsely accusing others. In Miller's play The Crucible, Abigail Williams proves her impurity of soul by having an affair with John Proctor, lying to the townspeople, and attempting to kill Elizabeth Proctor. Abigail first reveals her impure heart through her love affair with John Proctor. Although Abigail is aware that John is married to Elizabeth Proctor, she does not let their relationship get in the way of her own selfish desires. Johns fends off Abigail when he says “Abigail, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again. We never touched Abby” (15). Abigail argues, “Aye, but we did” (15). Here Abigail shows no guilt for her sinful actions. Clearly, she only cares about herself and especially does not care about the marriage that she is destroying. Moreover, Abigail is extremely self-centered and exposes her impure soul by having an affair with John Proctor. Not only does Abigail disclose her impure...
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...The Crucible in that it shows how that people have the tendency to lie and be deceitful. For instance, Abigail ends up getting eighteen people hanged when she lies about “drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife” (p. 12) and “never saw no spirits” (p. 54). Furthermore, the book shows how doing the right thing leads to dignity when John Proctor will not “lie and sign [him]self to lies” and hangs innocently. Finally, it shows how dark Judge Danforth’s lies are when he says “I cannot pardon these when twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just” (p. 80). The Crucible shows how it is a human tendency to lie and not have much integrity. Greed is the second most important theme in The Crucible and is apparent through many of the main character’s motives. For instance, Abigail shows greed and jealousy when she tells John Proctor “I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be” (p. 14), which shows how she is jealous of Proctor’s wife and is greedy in trying to get Proctor. In addition, greed is revealed in Parris when he asks, “where is my wood?” (p.16) and when he says I am paid little” (p.17). Furthermore, Putnam and Proctor fight over a “tract of land” (p. 18) and Putnam starts accusing innocent people of witchcraft in order to gain their land, which shows how greed only makes people do evil. Miller shows how greed is a instinctive trait in humans in his play The Crucible. Respect is the last theme that is important in The Crucible. Everything...
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...Reputation of the Crucible (Examine three characters on detail who are concerned about their reputation in the Crucible) Throughout history, the concern of one's reputation, has dictated the character or actions of a person. A reputation is a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic. So a reputation can affect the way the community sees another. The concern of their reputation has had quite a positive effect on a main storyline. Although, it could also have a negative side effect on the characters way of life. In the book the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, reputation has affected many characters in the book such as: John Proctor, Abigail, and Reverend Parris. In the book Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the main characters that happens to be concerned about their reputation is Abigail. From the start, Abigail had a vendetta against Elizabeth Proctor. In the Crucible, by Miller, Abigail states to Proctor, “She is blackening my name in...
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...The Revolution in Salem: John Proctor The Crucible was a pay that was written by Arthur Miller in 1952 because he was accused of being a communist and he didn't agree with McCarthyism. During the Cold War many were accused of McCarthyism, which is making accusations without proper evidence, and Arthur Miller was a victim of this. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to McCarthyism. Arthur Miller wrote about people being accused of involvement with witchcraft. Throughout the play The Crucible many of the characters are changing because of what is happening around them, with everyone getting accused of witchcraft. One of the main dynamic characters, a character that has a significant change in attitude, personality, or behavior, in this play is John Proctor. John Proctor is a considered an honest man in Salem. In the first two or three acts we see that John Proctor could be considered non-religious. John Proctor wasn’t very religious...
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...You may be asking yourself what does fear mean?? There a lot of manys for FEAR. The word fear mean something that can get you in trouble or you in dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Inside of you can feel that something bad will happen because of that fear you have inside of you. In the Crucible there are a lot of examples of fear that have been shown. To began, In the crucible there a lot of fear. From all the lies people start saying and then they end up believing the lies they have told. Like John Proctor one of the character from the crucible show fear. Proctor have been in a secret romance with Abigail Williams and he is scared that people with find out. If people start to find out then his reputation will get ruined, and...
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...The tragic story about the crucible many people were seen by the devil and doing things with the devil and later believed in God and some fake some things that had to do with witchcraft. But there were so much tragedy people kept with secrets and were hanged innocent. Some kept the truth some didn’t but at the end of the play when everything had been solved well most of everything was all lies from Abigail and later Danforth notices that the poor people were hanged into this mess they were innocent and then realize he’s maybe the bad one. John Procter and Abigail symbols were both similar but not has bad as Abigail because it was all her mess and brought people into this situation and all this mess that had been caused had every body’s mistakes they had done....
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...these societies, Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, is described in the play, “The Crucible.” Written in the McCarthy era, this play highlights the injustices during the Red Scare in America. As history continues to unfold, more links can be drawn between the message of “The Crucible” and today’s discrimination. The allegorical qualities of Arthur Miller’s, “The Crucible,” relate strongly to McCarthyism, but still have relevant connections to...
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...If someone makes sacrifices, how can they be selfish? In the story “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams makes many sacrifices that are not all for the best. She sacrifices the lives of many people in her town for herself. She also makes her lover, John Proctor, sacrifice his time with his sick wife. Abigail sacrifices the freedom of her fellow townspeople. All those actions made by Abigail Williams can only point to one thing, a selfish person. Abigail Williams convinces a town that many people are bewitched. She proceeds to lie on her uncle’s slave Tituba. “She sends her spirits on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!” (Miller 41). Abigail tells her uncle that Tituba has possessed her with the devil to save herself. That leads to Abigail telling the story that she seen many townspeople walking with the devil. The people she named were took to court and hung. Abigail’s lover, John Proctor, has a wife that was sickly. When the affair between John and Abigail took place, she...
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...The Crucible In the tragedy play The Crucible written by Arthur Miller there were a lot of characters involved with the Salem witch trials, but there were only three characters who were responsible for it. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials who several young girls were supposedly afflicted by witchcraft. And so the girls accused innocent people in their town for witchcraft also mostly accusing people who they or their families dislike so they would be hanged. In total 20 people were killed due to the witch trials. The three characters who were responsible for the Salem witch trials are Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, and Betty Parris. Abigail Williams has most part why the witch trials started because she knew this was all a...
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...Character Analysis of Abigail Williams Author Miller’s drama The Crucible takes place in the seventeenth-century in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem suffers from witch-hunts, trials, and false accusations. In effect, the town is full of worry and suspicion; and when young girls falsely accuse self-righteous neighbors in Salem of witchcraft, the town goes against itself, which ultimately causes a conflict between power and aggression. The personality of Abigail Williams, the understood leader of all the young girls, ultimately causes the whole play to go into effect. Abigail displays that she is sinful, envious, and manipulative. Abigail Williams’ characteristic of sinfulness causes her to be the antagonist of the whole play. Abigail commits...
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...As of human nature, people do certain actions based on pressure or motivations. For instance, a person might go to the gym and workout with the motivation of losing weight or gaining muscles. In the novel The Crucible, each character had different motivations to do specific actions. The characters had dissimilar motivates to falsely accuse others of witchcraft. For example: Abigail Williams, who is a huge part of the novel, her motivations were: staying out of trouble and taking Elizabeth Proctor place. While, Thomas Putnam was motivated to accuse others of witchcraft, because of his greediness and selfishness. Lastly, Mary Warren accused others with the motivations of fear from Abigail. Abigail is a young lady who lies to benefit herself. She decides to accuse others to prevent being hanged. She throws others people lives in danger just to save her life. It was mentioned in the novel the fact it is better to confess and name others than denying. Abigail simply accused others as if she would not, she will be killed. She started to accuse others so she will not be hanged. Therefore, after she confessed to working with the devil, she is seen as a helping device that God sent to the court members and the town people to be able to identify all the witches and wizards in the town. Plainly, she wants to stay out of problems....
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