...of anyone possibly lying or acting? If making a city vulnerable to a witch trial could be easy, Salem and the people living there definitely caused it. In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, religion, personal vendettas, and human faults, made the individuals and society in Salem vulnerable to a witch hunt. To start off one of many reasons Salem society was vulnerable to a witch hunt was religion. Religion was the main priority in Salem and almost anything said or done that wasn’t by the bible was witchery or evil. “At any rate very few indians were converted and Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the devil’s last preserve.” This quote is simply explaining how easily things were blamed and or believed and how religion was the base of everything. Puritans believe if you swear on the bible...
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...There are sexist people who believe that women should not be equal to men. An example of this would be in the Crucible when Giles asks Martha what she is reading. People on this time do not necessarily thing that women need to read. That is what men are for. They think that women should be conservative. They should not show much skin or any at all. There are racists who think that just a certain race should be equal but not everyone. This could be the reasoning behind the wage gap between females and males and minorities in the work place. In the Crucible, there were not many women actually doing jobs. Most women just worked around the house or they did minor things. (Imbornoni)“Female full-time workers made 80 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 20...
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...The theme of oppression is constant throughout both The Handmaid’s Tale and The Crucible. Both show how religion can be twisted into a form of control in society and they show the huge detrimental and devastating effects this control can have. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows the horror and appalling nature of the Salem witch trials of 1692, but beneath this surface it shows the parallels to aspects in Miller’s own life at this period, with the idea of McCarthyism going out of control in America. McCarthyism was a result of the second red scare in America in the late 1940´s/1950’s. It was a fear driven movement that swept across the United States where the threat of a Communist world revolution seemed like a very real threat. In response to this branches of the government set up organisations such as HUAC (The House Un-American Activities Committee) to help fight Communism from infiltrating the state. Unfortunately in the end it simply led to a ´witch hunt´ in which people were brought to trial and accused of being communist, Miller amongst them. HUAC and McCarthyism were simply examples of how when those in power feel threatened they will do anything to maintain their position which is what Miller set out to show in The Crucible. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood took a different approach, with a dystopian text which shows a world in which women are heavily oppressed and religion is used as a tool to brainwash and control the population. Atwood has made a point of showing how...
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...What is the definition of a tragic hero. To many they would describe it as a person or character's basic goodness and superiority that are marred by a tragic flaw, that brings about or contributes to their downfall. The flaw may be poor judgement, pride, weakness, or an excess of an admirable quality. They recognize their own faults and its consequences ,only after it is too late(definition from book). In the crucible by Arthur Miller, it recognizes John Proctor as a tragic hero for the following reasons; he recognized his own faults ,was honorable, and died doing the right things. In The Crucible, John Proctor is a male in his early 30’s with three sons and a wife. He is a farmer and a holy man. Unfortunately, he is killed in the last act of the story. He was accused of witchery, by hateful...
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...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 was supposed to live a life of pureness. The people from the Salem witch trials whom named names...
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...Throughout history, mankind has learned much through tragedy. The American Civil War and World War II were big factors that contributed to how people are viewed today. Nevertheless, the segregation of people by race, religious affiliation, ethnicity, sexuality, and occupation are still problems people face on a daily basis. Philosopher and novelist George Santayana understands this reoccurring problem better than anyone. He states, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” True to this statement, hundreds of years before The American Civil War and World War II were the Salem Witch Trials where people were segregated simply on suspicion of witchcraft. Two eye-opening, fictional retellings of this tragedy are The Crucible...
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...In Act Four of The Crucible, Reverend Hale must confront and overcome his crucible. The magnitude of this is witnessed in his character: “Reverend Hale enters. They look at him for an instant in silence. He is steeped in sorrow, exhausted, and more direct than he ever was.” (pp 128-129, Act 4) Hale’s crucible is whether or not to follow the public and continue forcing people to confess witchcraft or to make known the madness of these hunts, since he knows these witch hunts and trials are irrational. This exemplifies Hale’s personal and gradual movement to candor rather than the accusation of more innocent individuals. Furthermore, it shows Hale’s first steps from the break from conformity. In this essay, I will explain the changes that occur in his character as he struggles with his crucible. Also, I will analyze a crucible that I have faced. Hale grows almost exponentially throughout the duration of Act Four in The Crucible. On page 130, Hale is trying to convince Danforth to postpone the trials of the accused: “Excellency, if you postpone a week… that speak mercy on your part, not faltering.” After Danforth’s response, including a discussion of the trials doing God’s work in Salem, Hale speaks his mind again and announces that Danforth is mistaken in his judgment. At this point Hale begins to realize what he must do. He must attempt to delay, if not halt these trials, in order to prevent people from hanging needlessly. Hale shows outright maturation and grows a backbone, so...
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...Elizabeth Proctor and I “ I surely do. There be no mark of blame upon my life, Mr. Hale. I am a covenanted Christian woman.” This quote is said by Elizabeth Proctor who I believe mostly relates to me. After learning about her, I’ve learned that we shared a lot of the same characteristics. In the Crucible, Elizabeth plays a nice Christian woman who is married to John Proctor. She is accused of witchcraft but does not confess because of her beliefs. After reading the Crucible I am most like Elizabeth Proctor because I am religious, loyal, and forgiving. Being religious is a characteristic that I found Elizabeth and I had in common. One way Elizabeth shows her religious side in the Crucible is when she told John in Act lV that if he lies and confesses to witchcraft he will sin. Although she knows it will save his life, she didn’t want him to sin. I am religious because my family and I go to church every Sunday....
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...“In her life, sir, she have never lied.” This is a quote said by John Proctor, a character from The Crucible, while he was speaking to Governor Danforth about Elizabeth never telling a lie in her life. Elizabeth Proctor is a strong, christian, religious women in the play The Crucible who had 3 children with her husband John Proctor. She had strong morals like following the law and never telling a lie or sinning. Elizabeth Proctor and I had a few personality traits in common in that we are honest, non judgmental and also we both blame ourselves a good bit. Both Elizabeth Proctor and I share the same trait in which we are both honest. One way Elizabeth was honest in the story The Crucible was her never telling a lie. She was known for never telling a lie because she was a strong christian women and lying was a sin. Being honest is also one of my major morals. For example, a way I’m honest is I can’t ever lie and get away with it. I did lie a few times in my life but I end up feeling super guilty about it and confess to it. Also another way I’m very honest is because I’m always telling people the truth and letting them know how I feel about them. When I have something on my mind about someone, I always just come up and say my honest opinion on how I feel about...
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...Arthur Miller’s The Crucible exposes conflicts between the characters and the Christian society of Salem, Massachusetts 1692. The concept of social pressure and rules are used to establish the play. If the common man in Salem is to work proficiently in his surroundings, he must participate in all social activities or he faces the consequences of untrue allegations. Miller uses the character John Proctor as a prime example whose individuality ultimately isolates him from his community. Proctor tries to avoid any involvement in the Salem witch trials. His reason for this attempt is motivated by his past fault of committing adultery with Abigail Williams, who is leading the accusations. As the pressure from his peers grow on him, Proctor must decide whether to save himself, or to die and save Salem. The theme individual v. society exists through the character John Proctor. Proctor is cautious to speak openly due to his affair. He attempts to isolate himself from the first proceedings of the trial by stating to Reverend Hale, “I’ve heard you to be a sensible man Mr. Hale. I hope you’ll leave some of it in Salem.” (Miller 1231). Proctor is trying to cleanse himself entirely of his affair, rather than get involved with the community. Elizabeth, his wife, encourages Proctor to speak out about his knowledge against false accusations against her. He is hesitant and responds, “I know I cannot keep [confessing his crime]. I say I will think on it!” (Miller 1237). Before Proctor can...
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...In the story, The Crucible, Abigail Williams accused many of the people in the town of being witches. Abigail Williams is not a victim of her society. People of Salem in the 1600’s believed anything they heard about someone being possessed by the devil. If someone accused you of being a witch, you would most likely be taken to trial and questioned. How it usually worked is if you admitted to being involved with the devil and told on someone else, you would not be hanged but your reputation is no longer any good. Other than the part of the court believing anything someone said, this situation was bad due to people making stories up and blaming other people. It was an endless cycle. Abigail Williams is in the wrong doing because she falsely accused many people, lied about being possessed by witches, and got innocent people killed. Abigail Williams falsely accused many people of practicing witchcraft in the town The Crucible took place in. The most important in the story though was Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctors wife. John had an affair on Elizebeth with Abigail, which was the motive behind the whole ordeal. Elizabeth fired Abigail from being their servant after she had figured out about the affair. She then wanted to get rid of Elizabeth so she accused...
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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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...Deputy Governor Danforth: The “Savior” of Salem Village? In The Crucible, Deputy Governor Danforth plays a major role, seeing that he is the highest official that has been called in to officiate the Salem Village court. Danforth does his best to make everyone believe that he is like the “hero” of Salem Village. He acted like he could almost do no wrong, even though that is very incorrect. Danforth even keeps this attitude after the evidence is shown that the whole Salem Village Witch Trials were a sham. Danforth is not the “hero” of Salem Village, he is the destructor of Salem Village. There is much proof that shows that Danforth was not following his job of giving a fair trial to the accused people of Salem Village. Danforth has multiple...
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...America did not start off majestic and kind, do its valley of fear, and suspicion that spread like wildfire among each blade of grass. Giles is an honorable man in a play called “The Crucible” that is originating in Salem. Giles was both brave, true, and momentarily weak; he had to be all of these things if he wanted to rest as an honorable man too. The suspicion of witchcraft, and neighbors being associated with Lucifer himself had a horrific outbreak across the nation. Giles was an older man with a lovely wife, it was his third. She was strange in a sense only because she loved to read, and that was odd for a woman back then. Giles was complaining to a new Reverend in town named John Hale, and he was complaining that he was easily confused in prayer. He also mentioned his wife had read alone often. This comment how ever true when said, but mistaken when reported got his wife hung. He was only speaking the truth when mentioning it, and did not want any harm to come to his love. To show the court wrong he got a petition to go around the village with names of all those who disagreed with the court. When the court asked for the names he stayed true...
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...the same traits in that we are intelligent, compassionate, and loyal. Both Rebecca and I show our intelligence in different ways. Rebecca shows her intelligence when she tells everyone about how she does not believe the girls are seeing witchcraft because children will always have a child’s spirit. She tried to tell them that they were pretending and only acting like a normal child who is playing. Rebecca Nurse was saying they only wanted the attention of the adults. This did not persuade the rest of the adults into believing Rebecca about the girls pretending. I show my intelligence everyday through different situations. On my birthday, my mom had something for us to do and she did...
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