... The Crucible analysis “We consume our tomorrows fretting about our yesterday”- Persius. There have been moments in history where people were too consumed in fear that they broke many of their morals and due to powerful situations people behaved differently than their normal self. A play called the Crucible was written in 1953 by Author Miller to portray the unfairness at that time due to people being accused of witches with little to no evidence and then hanged. This event was called the Salem witch trials, which took place in the province of Massachusetts Bay. This play is an allegory to the McCarthy Hearings that took place from 1950 to 1956. The McCarthy hearings occurred in 1947; President Truman ordered background checks of every civilian in service to the government due to a fear of people within the United States being a communist spy. The fear of communism intensified when a high ranked official Alger Hiss was convicted of being a communist spy. Senator Joseph McCarthy stepped in and convinced/alarm people within the U.S that there were Communist and Communist sympathizers that would try to overthrow the government. As a result, he formed a special Congressional committee to investigate Americans who were suspected of Communist activities and this movement was named McCarthyism. The Crucible is a play that is universal and enduring because it uses allegory and archetypes to teach readers that fear and panic are the worst forms of chaos...
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...Personal integrity is a theme that is present all throughout history, in everything from literature to actual historical events. It takes strong character to uphold the ideals of personal integrity; to stand up against all things that are not morally right, regardless of the consequences. Most people simply break under the pressure to lead a life that is safe, however immoral. These people choose to take the easy road out. They choose to ignore what is morally right in an attempt to fit in with the crowd. They do what is easy, not what is right. However, some people have that strong character which allows them to go against the masses and pursue moral truth and justice always. This describes the theme of personal integrity: a theme which is present in the play The Crucible, historical events such as the McCarthyism era, and religion. In the Salem witch trials of the play The Crucible, the theme of personal integrity plays a huge role. Many townspeople are falsely accused of trafficking with the devil. If they admit to this horrific crime, their lives will be spared. However, if they refuse to admit to the lie, therefore displaying personal integrity, they will instead be sentenced to death. This is clearly a difficult decision to make, with the only options being to lie and live or to tell the truth and...
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...In Arthur Millers play, The Crucible, many themes are displayed through his writing. One of the main themes in his piece is the idea of conformity. There are so many situations that people conform in, some of which include; trying to fit in, not knowing what is the right thing to do, and often time people conform due to fear. Fear is something that can cause you to make both good and bad decisions. In The Crucible, fear is one of the main reasons for conformity, there are many reasons for why this happens and all of those are explained in the play. While depending on the situation while conform, or choose not to conform, based on the conditions they are in. In some situations we will often accuse others of actions they did not do in order...
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...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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...Throughout Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose and The Crucible by Arthur Miller, fear is the most prominent motivation of the key characters in these two plays. There are many differences and similarities between both of the plays Twelve Angry Men and The Crucible, the main similarity between them both is fear but there is also similarities in the sense that prejudice, justice, and tension between the communities in both of the plays. Fear is something caused by threat, danger, harm or anxiety, in Twelve Angry Men it is shown though fear of youth (young people) and also fear of racial minority's where as in The Crucible the charters are fearful of witches and the devil as well as themselves and others. The attitudes of those we are surrounded by everyday are the ones who have an influence...
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...nuclear holocaust was at an all-time high. It was a time of fear and paranoia for everyone, and it wasn’t just from the threat of the Communists. There was a nationwide search for Communists, Communist sympathizers, and even anyone who acted suspicious. There was no requirements for an accusation, which led it to become a modern day witch hunt. This idea of the McCarthy Era being a modern day witch hunt is what countless historians, authors, and poets have tried to relate. Which means there is no surprise that Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an allegory for the Red Scare and the McCarthy Era as well. To start off, the background of The Crucible was awfully similar to that of the McCarthyism Era, making it viable grounds for creating an allegory....
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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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...When creating my children’s book adaptation of The Crucible, I wanted to focus on one act that I thought had the most impact on the play’s plot. I decided to focus on the first act in the play, because that is when the plot is introduced to the audience. In the first act, Abigail and Betty start the Salem witch trials by falsely accusing people, which begins the plot and witch trails that occur throughout the play. I wanted to illustrate and emphasize my story’s pages on that scene because of its importance to the plot, and it also reveals one of the themes the play has. The theme I wanted to showcase in my book was the theme of fear, and how fear can control oneself to do bad things. Abigail’s fear of being accused of witchcraft controlled...
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...The Crucible This essay will discuss, explain and evaluate the main ideas, themes and interpretations of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. It will also explain and evaluate the language Arthur Miller uses and how it contributed to the overall success of the play. The Crucible is set in 1692 in the puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, a theocratic society, where the laws of the land are laid down by the church. The main idea running throughout the play can be viewed as a direct comparison to McCarthyism which was happening in 1950’s America, in which members of the general public including public figures such as Arthur Miller were brought in and questioned over connections to communism. This can be seen as a direct comparison to people being brought into the Salem courts regarding connections with witchcraft. It was not until Miller saw this comparison that he then felt compelled to write The Crucible as he now felt he could get into the minds of those going through similar circumstances back in the Salem witch trials. Hysteria was the main cause of nineteen deaths in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and countless ruined reputations on account of Joe McCarthy. Hysteria does not just appear out of nowhere though. There are driving forces such as revenge and abuse of power that bring about the irrational fear that can take over society. These are the issues expressed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly...
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...The Connection by Kathleen Orozco P. Sepesi English 3.1 December 5, 2011 Outline I. Introduction II. America in the 1600’s A. Puritanism B. Salem Witch Trials III. America in the 1950’s A. Communism B. Joseph McCarthy IV. McCarthyism A. McCarthy Trials (HUAC) B. Blacklisting C. Elia Kazan D. Arthur Miller V. The Crucible A. The Summary B. The theme VI. The Allegory A. Danforth and the HUAC B. Danforth and Joseph McCarthy C. Elia Kazan and Abigail Williams VII. The conclusion The Connection The Crucible written by Arthur Miller has a symbolic meaning. It is an allegory, “a story in which people, things, and events have a symbolic meaning, often instructive.” (Agnes 17). The setting, the Salem witch trials of the 1600’s is similar to the McCarthy trials of the 1950’s. The people, the events, the details relate to one another. Miller purposely wrote his story to instruct the fact that the mentality of the people in the 1950’s was no different than the mentality of people in the 1600’s. In the 1600’s people followed a strict religion known as puritanism. The Puritans believed they were sent by God to purify the world of sin and evil. Because of this they believed they were superior to others. Consequently, when they did sin, they tended to feel guilty and blame others for their faults. This blame and guilt led to one of the most fearful times in America. The Salem witch trials happened during the 1600’s and at a time where everyone...
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...The crucible is still revealing today because it’s a multi-layered book with events, characters and themes comparable. It is common for us to fear change and what is unknown, in this instance in The Crucible were dealing with witchcraft and the devil. Most recently this was comparable to McCarthyism. The themes that are presented within the Crucible are as important to people in this time period as Salem in 1692. A central theme that was found throughout the Crucible and relates back to us in society is the maintaining of reputation. Even today, we do not want to be associated with the doing of something bad, we want to be known for great things like making Ab honor roll, being polite, or being the one who is best at speaking. Not being associated...
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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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...someone of nobility. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 that dramatizes the Salem witch trials of the late seventeenth century in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the play, the town of Salem falls into hysteria after Reverend Parris finds his daughter, niece, and their friends dancing in the woods with his slave Tituba. The young girls claim they have been bewitched by people in the town to avoid punishment, although, the punishment then comes for the accused regardless of their innocence. A vital character to the...
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...During the early 1950s communists were suspected to be within the U.S. government,as a result the they were hunted down by senator Joseph McCarthy. However, do to their fear accusations were made without solid evidence and several innocent people were blacklisted and lost their jobs. This isn't the only situation that this has happened. In Mary Webster’s poem Half Hanged Mary and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible the authors tell stories about witches in different communities. Each of these texts share the theme of how fear of a certain threat can lead to false accusations and regretful actions. In Webster’s Half Hanged Mary, Mary became a innocent victim of the fear of witches in her village. Mary states “Rumour was loose in the air;...
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...The Crucible, reputation is an ongoing theme in the story. It is extremely important to many of the people in Salem. During the witch trials, many did not lie and confess to witchcraft, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. They would rather die with their honest integrity than to live with a tainted one. Due to this, many innocent people were hung. However, the strongest example that supports the theme of reputation would be one of the most corrupt men in Salem, Reverend Parris. First of all, in the beginning of the story Betty Parris is in a strange coma. The doctor had not the slightest idea of why Betty would not wake up, and due to this, the town spreads a rumor that witchcraft had caused Betty to fall into the coma. Parris finds out about this, and he immediately recalls when he found her and Abigail in the woods. If the townspeople were to find out that she was dancing in the woods, they would deem her a witch, and that would surely taint his status among the town. His attention shifts from his ill daughter to figuring out ways to keep his daughter and niece’s dancing a...
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