...Mass hysteria is a social phenomenon wherein people valve something worthwhile, to such an extreme level, that it leaves to them doing horrible things to maintain it. The Crucible and Swing Kids share many commonalities that make them examples of mass hysteria. The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials and they show a number of teenage and preteen girls feeling (or at least claiming they feel) as though they are being cursed by witches, so they seek to root them out. In Swing Kids, we follow a group of boys who like to dance to swing music, something outlawed by the Nazis; two of the boys join Hitler’s Youth and start to believe Nazi propaganda, at least to a degree; by the end of the movie, one of these boys ends up so firmly against the Nazis that he gets sent to a prison camp, while the other...
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...13 February 2016 Reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller was a thrilling and mesmerizing experience. Every aspect of the play was entertaining. The story of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is less about the tale of the witch hunt and trials. Subsequently, it is more about how the witch hunt and trials take an effect on the communities. Throughout the course of time, when a situation that causes a mass hysteria, people will force themselves to conform in order to place themselves in a safe spot. For instance, during the Salem witch trials, people admitted to “crimes” that they never actually committed, or began accusing others who were once allies (ex. neighbors, friends, etc.) in order to keep themselves in the clear and safe from being hanged or jailed. If one was doing what they could in order to maintain the safety of the community, they earned themselves a safe spot. It was the individuals who were not pointing fingers in order to help out the “witches” that were soon assumed to be subject to the Devil’s influence and were eventually either jailed or hanged (sometimes both). Arthur Miller utilizes John Proctor’s protagonist character in order to show not just what he believed was the right thing to do in a situation such as this one, but to show how difficult it is to sometimes play the role of a nonconformist tackling a much larger group of people. Also, The Crucible shows how mass hysteria can eventually allude to violence. The Crucible was not only a terrific story of...
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...Mass hysteria is the phenomenon in which a group of people experience similar symptoms of anxiety, fear, or other physical symptoms. A well-known case of mass hysteria in history was the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. This incident was portrayed by the Arthur Miller play The Crucible, in which a group of girls starting falsely accusing multiple women in their town of witchcraft, starting a wave of hysterical fear throughout the village. Neighbors would accuse others of witchcraft over land disputes, petty squabbles or simply because they did not like them (Miller). A more recent case, and on a much greater scale, was the Pokémon Panic of 1997, when an episode of Pokémon in Japan sent hundreds of children to the hospital with seizure-like symptoms....
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...to create drama in the crucible In his play, The Crucible, Arthur miller presents an allegory for McCarthyism through the use of the Salem With trials of 1692. In the crucible, miller uses many techniques to create drama to influence the decisions of the ordinary townsfolk. Drama is created by placing key protagonists in situations of conflict. The intolerance of puritan society towards new or different practices is one of the ways that miller creates drama. Another factor is the maintenance of personal reputation and the consequences of conflict upon this status. By manipulating ordinary people, hysteria also creates a large sum of drama. Through an analysis of Intolerance, reputation and hysteria, this essay will explore how conflict creates drama. In a puritan society, not meeting the social norms was seen as treason and heavily persecuted. This lead to an intolerance of anyone who did not worship god, and dissent lead to beliefs of Satanic activity. Judge Danforth quotes in act three page 85 "You are either with the court or against it". Miller uses tone to foreshadow what is yet to come in the the text. The tone of this sentence shows that the witch trials are the ultimate form of intolerance and hanging...
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...The Crucible and the Detroit riots have a lot in common, whether it be from comparing the mass hysteria, or people being falsely accused of terrible acts, the similarities are unmistakable. A small rumor can have giant effects and push people beyond a breaking point. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is a very good example of how people react when they don’t know how to respond and they see violence as the only resolution, such as the residents in Detroit did during July of 1967. The two events are very similar if you consider the mass hysteria and several other factors. The Detroit riot of 1967 was a series of violent clashes between the city’s residents and the police department (Emeka). It remains of one the most violent uprisings in the...
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...In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the tone of irony boats from every corner you look, this story casts a mirror onto McCarthyism and reflects the outcomes of this ironic process. The Crucible depicts the reality of the Salem Witch Trials in a time of hysteria and fear. Miller uses a past event to emphasize the effects of unnecessary fear imposed by McCarthyism, indirectly relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Miller’s, The Crucible, is one of irony in which it obliquely equates to the consequences of fear and blaming others by relating the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism. Abigail’s intentions regarding John Proctor are nothing if not ironic, you can see this perfectly in which Abigail acted out in a complete façade so that she could be...
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...Mass Hysteria Mass hysteria is known as uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear. The idea of mass hysteria has occurred various times throughout the history of the United States. The United States has some major examples of mass hysteria, the outbreak of Ebola in 2014 and the tragic events of 9/11 in 2001. These two incidents left the people in chaos and complete panic, nobody trusted anyone, people were afraid of transit such as planes, trains and busses, ultimately this led to fear across the world. In 2014 the Ebola epidemic had everyone in a panic although very few people were actually contaminated with this deadly disease and most cases were overseas in other countries around Africa. One case was when a woman near the Pentagon fell ill and had vomited in a parking lot, she was quickly isolated and quarantined for multiple hours. This case showed the panic and extreme precautions the government will take when a potential outbreak could occur even though nobody could confirm the lady was truly infected with Ebola. Ebola had the United States in havoc although it was not spreading at all, only a few scandalous cases had occurred leaving the people in complete terror...
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...In Arthur Millers, The Crucible, the Salem witch trails occurred. In Salem, while the Salem witch trials were occurring, the citizens tell many lies. This is one thing that led to the mass hysteria that defined the Salem witch trials. It also led to many conflicts between the characters in this book. This is because in the eyes of the puritans anyone who was involved in “witchcraft” was against the church and thought to be communicating with Satan and deserved death. One of the conflicts that occurred in The Crucible was between John Proctor and himself. Because lying is a sin and in turn causes negative effects, John Proctor is forced to face the reality and the consequences of his deceitfulness. In the play The Crucible, John Proctor, the main character, endures multiple inner conflicts. He believes his affair with Abigail Williams, another citizen of Salem, has permanently damaged him and his worthiness in the eyes of God. After scolding Elizabeth Proctor, his wife, for continuing to be suspicious of his actions with Abigail and not giving him forgiveness, Elizabeth expresses that she does not judge him, but that it is, “The magistrate sitting in [his] heart that judges [him].” Lying is a recurring theme in The Crucible and Proctor’s actions with the affair is an example of this....
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...The Crucible Act Four Questions Short Response Answer the following questions based on your knowledge of the drama. Write a response on a separate sheet of paper. 1. Where does Tituba think that the Devil is going to take her? 2. Give one example of how Abigail shows her dishonesty in this act. 3. What effect do the trials have on Salem? Use three details from the drama to support your answer. 4. When first arrives at the Salem jail, Danforth complains, “There is a prodigious stench in this place.” How might this line be read to mean something besides a comment on the smell? 5. How is Giles Corey’s character reflected in his death? Use one detail from the drama to support your response. 6. What qualities does Proctor find within himself that prevent him from at last saving himself and signing the confession? Use details from the text to support your response. 7. Explain how Proctor is right or wrong for refusing to sign the confession. Use details to support your response. 8. A tragic hero’s fate, according to Aristotle, inspires pity and horror. Name the tragic hero in The Crucible, and describe how his or her fate inspires both pity and horror. 9. People accused of being Communists had a difficult time getting jobs; some even moved out of the United States in order to try to resume normal lives. How is Proctor’s situation like that of the people accused of Communist activities? 10. Based on the conversation involving Tituba, Sarah...
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..."…. A person is either with this court or they must be counted against it." How do both texts show us that there is little room for justice in an oppressive society? Injustice is often a result of oppression as absolutist societies establish a dichotomy of good and evil to manipulate the powerless into subservience. The allegories by George Orwell and Arthur Miller denounce the harmful effects of tyranny, as it generates deception and fear, enabling despotic individuals to gain power and control. Miller’s play, The Crucible, advocates for the necessity of transgression to gain autonomy, as Salem’s theocracy is eventually broken; however, it is Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm, that exposes the unjust reality in which rebellion does not always guarantee freedom,...
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...Conflict in Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ Set in Salem, Massachusetts, Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ was written in 1952, the play which successfully portrays the witch trials in 1962 as an allegory for the prosecution of communists. The play contains many conflicts set to tear apart or destroy the small community of Salem, and to cause havoc with neighboring towns. Arthur Miller gives the reader a chance to experience the dangers of hysteria in a community through the conflicts experienced by his characters in a puritan society. Conflict is a strong disagreement between people or groups that often leads to strong arguments. Various elements of the plot are woven together in such a way that we are often left on a mini cliff-hanger, wondering what will happen next, which creates tension. Writer’s craft is the writer’s use of techniques to create an effect on the reader. The opening of the play immediately grips the audience. Betty Parris is lying motionless on a bed, Reverend Parris is kneeling next to her praying, but he conveys no sense of religious calm and faith. He is weeping and desperate. He cries out “Oh my God! God help me!” and he is very disturbed. When Tituba the household slave, enters Parris is in a state of “fury” and yells “Out of here! Out of my sight!” then is “overcome with sobs”. Miller is careful to specify in the stage directions just how the actor should deliver the lines and what type of emotions the character is holding. The opening is powerful...
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...Repetition, Regression, and Variation Throughout history, the same events are repeated as groups of people deal with problems in their society. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, was written when McCarthyism, which involved the persecution of suspected communists, was at a high. The play explores the seemingly timeless parallels of panicked groups hoping to protect themself and their own between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era trials that are still applicable today as the fight on terror advances. Notwithstanding the likeness between the three, anomalies appear that show growth or even regression in a culture do remain. Events such as unfair stereotyping, magnified paranoia, and targeting ideas through accusing people,...
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...Criminals’ punishments escalate from being whipped to being hanged in a matter of hours. Betty Parris and Abigail Williams’ crimes went from being discovered in the forest doing unnatural things, to accusing people of witchcraft. The punishment of accusing people of such accusations results in be hanged. The lying done by these two girls creates a madness among the town. By the end of Act 1 of The Crucible, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams’ secrecy make the people in the town of Salem break out in witchcraft hysteria. The Crucible opens with Betty Parris lying still on her bed while her father, Reverend Parris, is kneeling beside the bed in agony. When Betty, along with other girls from the town, are discovered by the Reverend dancing in the woods, she suddenly falls ill. Her illness rapidly escalates from natural causes to unnatural. When Abigail comes in to inform Reverend Parris that Doctor Giggs cannot discover what is wrong with Betty, he says, “Let him look to medicine and put out all thought of unnatural causes here. There be none” (Miller 9). This allows the reader...
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...after at least 300 volts was reached. This experiment reflects how an individual can believe that their actions are justified, and how power affects the mindset and actions of individuals. However, once the volunteer’s guilty conscience reached its limit, the volunteer put a stop to shocking the other man and went against the authoritative figure’s directions. This experiment has aspects that support the theory of how people blindly obey an authority figure; individuals that practice baleful beliefs such as communism have become prominent figures due to the acquired blind support from others, even though the ideas that they assume have unappealing outcomes. As the Milgram Experiment proved, the Stanford Prison Experiment shows the negative effects of authority among individuals. In the Stanford Prison Experiment, 24 male college students were chosen for the roles of either prisoner or prison guard for a simulated prison environment in the basement of Stanford’s psychology department. The experiment was meant to last two weeks but ended after only six days due to several mental breakdowns, acts of cruelty, and a hunger strike. The Stanford Experiment’s purpose was to understand how roles and labels as authoritative figures developed under the simulated conditions of a prison. Through this experiment, it showed how being in an influential role caused several individuals to become dispositional, situational, and reflect deindividualization onto others. All of the volunteers were normal...
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...The Crucible that Arthur Miller wrote exposed the injustice the witch hunting’s were and hysteria outbreak people had with the fear of witches or anything they consider bad. The Red Scare is a good example of people getting scared and blames anyone they see. The Soviet Union communist were named the “Reds”. In 1940s to the early 1950s people were hysterical thinking that the reds were going to take over. The scare had people with a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. HUAC was formed they found with harbor hoover 12 prominent leaders of the American Communist Party on charges that they had plans to advocated the overthrow of the government. Two were convicted and executed in 1951, The crucible was an example of how the fear of the public drives people to blame and take action. Joseph R. McCarthy was always trying to expose communist just like the judges in the book and Abby she accused women for being witches and the judges just convicted who ever just to maintain their record. But Joseph pointed the finger at almost everyone in the government he worked with. He even launched a full investigation on them 2,000 government officials lost their jobs even though there was a lack of proof, they were fired anyways. He violated people’s civil rights with harsh integrations of witnesses in hearings. Just like in the Crucible the judges harshly interrogated the claimed to be witnesses making them change stories to fit what they wanted...
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