...The Crucible Essay To begin with, a crucible is a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development. The title signifies the suffering and hardship that the town goes through. The town the story takes place in is governed by a theocracy. Everything that happened in the book, all the events that led up to the execution of many innocent lives and led up to the breaking apart of the theocracy that the town was used to contribute to make a difficult time or situation, which is a crucible. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts Man’s word is worthless against harsh judgment. With the false evidence and the corrupting lies, there will be only one who will try to fight for freedom and break free from the Law’s powerful hold. First and Foremost, Reverend Samuel Parris is worried about his reputation, and along with that comes tremendous paranoia. He is a busybody and has a sense of purposefulness. Parris is an immensely paranoid character. The importance he places on reputation creates for him a considerable amount of paranoia. This paranoia is evident many times throughout the play. In the opening scene, Parris is speaking with Abigail about his recent discovery of her in the forest. He discovered his daughter and niece dancing in the forest, an activity that is prohibited. Dancing is not only frowned upon but it is seen as associated with witchcraft. He is immediately concerned about himself. His daughter is sick...
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...Crucible Essay History repeats itself in many ways sometimes it will be a man making a simple mistake like a man forgetting to pick his dry-cleaning up or it can be something along the lines of people becoming paranoid and fighting and preparing for things that aren’t really there. The Red Scare of 1947 to the late 1950s is a perfect example of our nation repeating a history event from 1692, The Salem Witch Trials an event that our nation still remembers today innocent lives lost that definitely didn’t deserve it. One of the victims to the Red Scare Arthur Miller made a satire of it using “The Crucible” (A play based on the witch hunts) comparing the Red Scare to the Salem Witch Trials, he claims everything he was accused for is just as ridiculous and embarrassing to our country as the Salem Witch Trials were. In this Essay I will be comparing Arthur Miller's Crucible to the Red scare of the 1940's. There’s this Guy who basically claims our government is filled to the brim with communists and we need to weed them out, His name is Joseph McCarthy, he was born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin in 1909 and he died in 1957 on May 2nd due to Alcohol poisoning.(Joseph 1) On 9th February, 1950, at a meeting of the Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy claimed that he had a list of 205 people in the State Department that were known to be members of the American Communist Party (late he reduced this figure to 57)(Joseph 1). Joseph McCarthy was a dirty man who in fact...
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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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...Lies and Truth Witchcraft is the practice of and belief in magic skills done by designated groups. John Proctor was accused of being involved in witchcraft, he tried the court, but it did not save his life. John Proctor is honest, proud and hardworking. In “The Crucible” John Proctor is a husband to Elizabeth Proctor and a father. John Proctor spoke out and held the preacher accountable, Proctor also stood up for what he believed in and did not back down. He never wanted to attach himself to things he doesn’t believe in. John Proctor is honest, proud and hardworking. Proctor is just hearing about the girls in the woods and Betty not being able to wake. People are trying to push Mr. Parris into looking for witchcraft. Proctor, unable to force someone to do anything says, “You cannot command Mr. Parris.” (Miller 15). Here Proctor shows his honesty. By saying one must not be forced any action, without that person consent. He is being honest and saying that he feels like it should not be that way. Proctor and the council people agree that Mr. Parris will not be forced to do any action. Proctor continues working in the fields while the tragedy of witchcraft runs Salem. Proctor while working in the field gets called to court to help with this tragedy. Mr. Hale greets Mr. Proctor and talks about the envied. Proctor goes on to tell Mr. Hale that, “We built the church, I nailed the roof I hung the door.” (Miller 72). Proctor is proud to say that he himself had part in the making of...
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...Sarah Clay Ms. Hans Amstud English 10H 23 April 2018 The Crucible Essay One connection that is often overlooked is that Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible in the late nineteen forties and early nineteen fifties at a time when America had developed a newfound fear of communism and politicians were investigating people, accusing them of being communists and wrongly prosecuting them. It has been said that Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible because he was fascinated with the Salem Witch Trials and because he wanted to remind people who had forgotten about the fear and shame that resulted from so many innocent people who were found guilty of being witches and hanged. Arthur Miller used his writings in the Crucible to tell the world that a community...
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...A Throne of Lies This is all more than just a little white lie. In 1953, Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible because of his experiences during the Red Scare of which many people were being accused of being communist. The Crucible is about trials for people who allegedly practiced witchcraft in the late 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts. Herbert Lawrence Block was a cartoonist during the Red Scare period and was also impacted by the Red Scare. His cartoons had a similar theme as The Crucible. The Red Scare affected many people through false accusations; we see this in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Many of the characters in the Crucible were falsely accused of witchcraft. People would accuse others without having any actual evidence, by using what they called spectral evidence. “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil, I saw Goody Osborn with the devil, and I saw Bridget Bishop with the devil “(Miller 89). These were examples of accusations in which innocent people were implicated of witchcraft. The people that were accusing did not understand the harm they put on others until they were accused themselves and could not do anything to prevent it. Herb Block’s cartoon “It’s okay… We’re hunting Communists” was a cartoon for the Red Scare showing the harm the House Committee inflicted by hurting innocent people just for finding possible communists. In the cartoon Herb Block shows the reckless driver running over innocent people. This was similar to Salem because many innocent people...
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...Crucible Analytic Essay “The Crucible” is a play written by Arthur Miller and is based off the Salem Witch Trials which happened in Massachusetts. There are many themes in this play but one specific theme stands out and that’s jealousy. Jealousy is a cruel feeling that can lead to many awful events if it is uncontrolled and this play has many of those events. Jealousy leads to many things in this play which even includes death. In “The Crucible”, the character Abagail Williams is a very jealous 17 year old. In the play, she dances naked in the woods with many of her friends to try and cast a spell on John Procter to love her and for his wife, Elizabeth, to be executed. After a past affair, Abagail is very much in love with John and tries to...
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...Kenya Finch Mr. Osborn Per. 7 March 17, 2012 Character Analysis Essay The world is made of all different types of people with different qualities. Some qualities we all share and some we don’t. We value some more than others and look down at some. Often the qualities that are look down on is what society seems to create the most around and pay the most attention to. Throughout the reading of The Crucible there are many characters that have been introduced with different qualities. One of the characters that have been introduced that has qualities that stands out more from others which are manipulative, devious, and inconsiderate. The character I’m talking about is Abigail Williams. All throughout the story Abigail displays all these qualities and many other but those three are the ones that are displayed the most. Out of all qualities Abigail displays devious is the one greatly revealed. Throughout the story there are many events that happen that Abigail had something to do with, with each event Abigail always has a different story from what actually happens and convinces people that her story is the truth. One event that happens that displays this would be when Abigail was in the woods with the girls dancing and took it to the next level by drinking blood and taking off her clothing. Before the questioning of what happen in the woods Abigail states “Shut up! All of you. We danced. That is all, and mark this, if anyone breathe a word or the edge of a word about the other...
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...12. The Putnam’s don't like the Nurse’s because of a piece of land. Also, Ann Putnam accused Rebecca of bewitching her newborn babies saying she was responsible for their deaths. 13. Rebecca stood over Betty and silenced her. 14. That they made the story up just for attention. 15. People are being accused in every direction because many people are holding grudges. 16. Proctor doesn’t like Parris who’s the minister. 17. A raise in his salary and the deed to his house. 18. He says that literally they aren’t enough and that their secrets is something dark. 19. They argue about lumber and land. It shows that Putnam is greedy. 20. An expert on witches, he comes to town to get rid of the witches in Salem. 21. That people are putting their faith into something, which might not be real. 22. Tituba was afraid to get hanged, so she confessed to conjuring spirits and meeting with the devil. 23. They admit to being bewitched and they start calling out random names saying they saw them with the devil. *Act Two* 24. To court and to say that the girls are not saying the truth. 25. He does not want to get personally involved with the activity. 26. A doll. 27. That she confessed to witchcraft. 28. To go back and say more things that will get him involved. 29. She knows that they had an affair. 30. He came to question him, since he was accused. 31. They don’t go to church often, and proctor doesn’t know all the commandments. 32. That if the bible says witches are real than she must...
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...The tarnishing of one’s reputation and personal integrity is something that many people fear and this is shown through the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World and John Hale’s A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. The Crucible is a play about the Salem witch trials and the characters who are accused and judged based off of their reputation. Each character’s perception is different than what the actual reality is of the witchcraft because they have their own views about this trial. In Cotton Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather is warning the townspeople about the devil taking control of their lives. He encourages them to take action and do something about it,...
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...The Crucible is about the Salem Witch Trials where innocent people were hanged by the accusation of witchcraft. The trials takes place in the late 17th century in Massachusetts, near Boston. During this time, the colonies are still in development of its infrastructure and vulnerable to Indian raids. Salem is a small community of puritans who left england in hope to ‘purify’ the church. The court is the supreme power in all of the provinces in the american continent and under a theocracy. A theocracy is when a religion and the government has a connection which often lead to strict policies, and witchcraft is the worst decision one would make. Out of all the characters in the book, Abigail would be the one most to blame. Each character have different...
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...In the movie “The Crucible,” written by Arthur Miller, Puritanism is portrayed in many ways. The setting of the movie showed us when and where the events of the Salem Witch Trials. The costumes and buildings opened our eyes to how the Puritans ran their daily lives. Meanwhile, the characters and actors in the movie showed us how hard it was to be a pure Puritan and even they could stray from the path of what they believed was ‘good’. Puritanism, in the movie, was shown to us very clearly. The movie also showed us how extreme the Puritans could get in their faith. The first way of Puritanism that was shown in “The Crucible” was the dancing. The girls of Salem, in the opening scene, went out into the woods in the middle of the night. When they...
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...Two seperate times yet they repeat themselfs in a way history chooses too. After all we all know the saying.[histrinted on one of these. You where in fact a outcast. You not longer belonged anywhere. Your name would forever make you a monster in most eyes. Because even with no evedece how is anyone soposed to assume your not lying under oath. Moving on to the crucible and how it relates, abigal took advantage once she had admitted to being involved with the devil. She saw an opurtunity. She could now accuse the one person in her way of her true love, in which was john proctor. So she accused mrs proctor, of being with the devil. She went so far as to accuse more and more people whom she knew nothing of. And put them throug life threatening...
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...criminals who do not care about the law will find a way to get their hands on guns anyways. Society has become obsessed with the violence guns cause, but what they should be afraid of is actually the people behind the trigger. Taking guns away from all will not stop the violence and terror on the streets. Gangs will still find a way to reach these weapons, while the law abiding citizens will stand defenseless in the wake of gun violence. By regulating who is able to purchase guns, educating people on how to properly use them, and keeping guns from those that do not meet the proper psychological qualifications and have criminal records, the problem of gun violence will significantly decrease. This is very similar to the problem seen in The Crucible, the public hears of a few stories about a problem in their community and instead of finding a way to resolve the problem, they immediately want to liquidate the community of the “witches”. The truth often becomes obscured in the wake of gossip and the media and the public becomes...
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...English Persuasive “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it,” (Aung Sun Suu Kyi, 1990). Within in a governmental system that denies fundamental human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of incarceration, fear of suffering, fear of execution and fear of social isolation. However, the most underhanded form of fear can eliminate common sense or even wisdom, condemning a person to futility, foolishness and insignificance. In order to end the tyrannical perpetuation of evils, a person needs to engage in daily acts of courage, which will preserve a person’s dignity and they will inherit personal integrity. A man can maintain his moral code in an immoral world. The wellspring of audacity, endurance and perseverance in the face of repression, is a resilient belief in the sanctity of human life and ethical philosophies. These admirable principles underpin the actions of John Proctor and Aung Sun Suu Kyi in their protest against fear, hysteria and governmental abuse. Both Proctor and Kyi demonstrate the ability to rescue a community sinking in the quagmire of injustice and tyranny and release them into a sanctuary of justice and freedom. Good Afternoon Teachers and Students, The dissipated hysteria of the Salem witch trials was the repercussion of political and religious fragility. The whole Salem community had fought with dissension; people regarded...
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