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Examples Of Paranoia In The Crucible

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The acts of desperation, moments of paranoia, and fear of communism in the article "Why I Wrote The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, connect accurately and correctly with specific events in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

The first topic represented in both is the acts of desperation. In "Why I Wrote The Crucible", Miller states The Crucible was an act of desperation. Much of my desperation branched, I suppose, from a typical depression-era trauma-the blow struck on the mind by the rise of European Fascism and the brutal anti-Semitism it had brought to power" (W.I.W.T.C 2). This goes to show us that one of the reasons he wrote the play was due to the political events happening in the real world. This evidence correlates with Abigail's …show more content…
In "Why I Wrote The Crucible" Miller states " I am not sure what The Crucible is telling people now, but I know that its paranoid center is still pumping out the same darkly attractive warning that it did in the fifties. For some, the play seems to be about the dilemma of relying on the testimony of small children accusing adults of sexual abuse, something I'd not have dreamed of forty years ago. For others, it may simply be a fascination with the outbreak of paranoia that suffuses the play-the blind panic that in our age, often seems to sit at the dim edges of consciousness" (W.I.W.T.C 5). This quote reveals to us that one of the play's messages is the outcome of the spread of paranoia. This evidence ties in with the paranoia in the town that witches are among them caused by Abigail's false accusations. For example, Abigail states " I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!" (T.C 485). With Abigail doing this, she spreads mass paranoia though out the town by naming people in the village as "witches". By doing this, she takes the attention away from her in hopes of not getting caught. These two examples connect in the end because one of the play's message is the effects of paranoia; which we see in the scene with

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