Arthur Miller's Crucible Characters and Social Strife Essay

The Putnams, jealous of Rebecca Nurses large family, blame Rebecca Nurse for killing all seven of their children. Rebecca Nurse is an innocent woman, but they need someone to blame, so they blame the nurse for the deaths. Also Martha Corey is accused of witchcraft by a man upset with her for not giving him his money back for a pig he bought from her that she did not take care of properly. Another great example is when Reverend Hale tells Francis Nurse that the only way to defend witches in the witch trials was to arrest Rebecca Nurse, “There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships. (Miller 71) The only way out of an accusation was to blame someone else. The effect of the witch trials creates an opportunity for people to act on their long-held grudges. And because of this, many of them did act on this and it added to the time of the witch trials. This is again the key reason for the starting of hysteria in The

Putnam is completely controlled by his greed and doesn?t care who is hurt or even killed, as long as he gets more land. The girls of Salem are also heavily controlled by their greed. The girls, especially Abby, are given an incredible amount of power during the trials. They are members of the court and anyone they accuse can be put to death: ?And folks are brought before them, and if they scream and howl and fall to the floor?the person?s clapped in the jail for bewitchin? them? (53). Abigail is not greedy for land, she just wants the power that has been bestowed upon her and the other girls. Abigail enjoys being seen as a saint: ??where she walks the crowd will part like the sea of Israel? (53). Girls in this time were used to being ignored and powerless. The trials forced people to give

In this essay I will talk about two main central ideas. First, some people accuse innocent people for witchery. Secondly, there is a lot of hatred in the town of Salem.

The girls at the beginning of the play, avoided punishment by accusing others of the very things they were guilty of themselves. This desperate act of self-preservation resulted in the mass paranoia and atmosphere that gripped Salem for the continuance of the witch trials. By allowing audiences to see how dark desires and hidden agendas subsequentially drive people, Miller explores human motivation and the behaviour that results from it. Ironically, it is desire, sexual, material and physical desire that drives the people of Salem. For example, Abigail, full of desire for Proctor, seizes an opportunity to reverse fate and eliminate Elizabeth Proctor, by accusing her of witch craft. Elizabeth was the only person in Abigail’s eyes that was preventing her from marrying Proctor. In addition, Abigail’s status within the community is elevated and she gains power a young woman of her social status could have only dreamt of. Furthermore, the Putnam’s also seize the opportunity the witch trials create. Putnam has a hidden agenda, namely, land lust and his desire to elevate himself within the

- Thomas Putnam’s greed for power in the court conquers his morals. - Due to this, the amount of suffering and devastation in the town of Salem starts to escalate because of the amount of false accusations Putnam is allowed to make and be successful in. - Abigail uses her innocence as a young kid to get the court to believe all she says; by doing this she gains power in the court. - When John Proctor forces Mary Warren to tell the truth about the voodoo doll and save Elizabeth Proctor , Abigail betrays her friends and goes into a state of insanity as if Mary Warren is sending the devil after her; all to keep herself safe and away from the accusations.

One of the main rivalries in the play is the dispute between Thomas Putnam and Francis Nurse. There are many disputes between the two, and Thomas Putnam took advantage of his power and went after Francis Nurse. One thing that Mr. Putnam was not happy about was the fact that Francis Nurse played a big part in not allowing Putnam’s brother-in-law from being elected to Salem ministry. Another situation Thomas Putnam is not happy about, is that Francis is in a heated land dispute with one of Putnam’s relatives. Putnam abuses his power and somehow finds a way to convict Francis’s wife, Rebecca Nurse, that she supposedly killed the Putnam’s dead kids. This is just one example of a man, Thomas Putnam, who is jealous of the Nurse family, and abruptly uses his power to lie to the court and have Rebecca Nurse killed for nothing she did not do. There were many other instances where the court of Salem leaned toward the word of jealous citizens.

The Source of Evil in The Crucible Arther Miller’s play The Crucible is based off his experiences during The Red Scare in the 1950s where allegations were most prominently against Hollywood influencers. The play is an allegory to McCarthyism where wild accusations are made without proper evidence to support the claim which is seen multiple times in the courts of Salem. The goal of making accusations was to get ahead and gain power or possibly revenge. McCarthy wanted to gain power and leverage over the people of Hollywood, where the people of Salem wanted land and money or vengeance. The movement was fueled by the American fear for the spread of communism as in The Crucible where the trials are fueled by fear of judgement; whether by God or the courts.

In reality, the community is broken in Salem when neighbor turns on neighbor just to survive the trials. A sense of community and belonging is important to any society. In order to be spared, the convicted needed to confess to witchcraft and to give names of other “witches”. For instance, after Reverend Parris's slave, Tituba was accused of witchcraft; she was forced to confess to witchcraft and gave names to save her own life. As a result of corrupt law hearings, neighbors accuse each other for personal gain. Thomas Putnam made his daughter Ruth Putnam accuse George Jacobs of witchery, so Putnam could buy his land. The indicated instance is only one example of the disloyal and corrupt society resulting from the trials. Lastly, in the McCarthy Era, neighbors spied on each other to find out who the communist were. The overall unrest of both trials lead to uneasy friendships and neighbor

Hysteria and injustice in "The Crucible" The crucible is a figurative play relating the culture of the Salem society and the political events surrounding the McCarthy hearings by author, Arthur Miller. The author, through the 1953 play, illustrates the way fear and hysteria in the society discredits logic and leads to injustices to some people. The play has its setting at the Salem society, which is a close-knit society with a strict code of ethics. Precisely, the society is a rigid somber place that prohibits people to break the dominating monotony and strict work ethics.

In Act III Giles Corey is in the courtroom while his wife is nearly convicted when he states "Thomas Putnam is reaching out for land" (Miller 863)! Then Giles tells the court about how Thomas accused the townspeople of casting and putting spells on his daughter Ruth. Once they were found guilty and after they had been hanged. He seeks revenge by taking the land from people who were found guilty. Which also shows us that the Putnams are very

Another elderly man in the community, George Jacobs, is accused by Putnam’s daughter of witchcraft. Just like the Nurse’s, he has a large piece of land beside Putnam’s property. Because the Putnam family is affluent, they are the only ones who can afford to buy up all those people’s property. The people of Salem know that he was only accusing others for that reason, and Danforth has an accusation against him that reads, “Mr. Putnam, I have here an accusation by Mr. Corey against you. He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail” (Miller 96).

As the trials go on, many more accusations are made. Giles Corey accuses Putnam of trying to get other landowners hanged for witchcraft so that he can have their land for himself. Marshall Danforth asks for a source and the person’s name. Giles says that he cannot give out the person’s name. Giles is in the court because his wife, Martha Corey had been arrested and accused of witchcraft. She gave away a pig to a man, and the pig became ill and died shortly after the pig was acquired. Francis Nurse is in the court because his wife, Rebecca Nurse was arrested too. He along with Giles continue to confront Danforth about Putnam’s doing, but Danforth responds with that they will have to put their thoughts into writing

I fully acknowledge the power of being a minister, but he seems to make it get in his way. I trust John Proctor in a way that is beyond my comprehension, and yet I have not heard worthy things of his reputation. He seems to be an honest man, but plagued with disruption in his life. The Putnam’s have plenty to offer in the town. I was appalled to hear that Mrs. Putnam has lost seven babies! It must play a role in the background here. Abigail is our light in this darkness, and I intend on using her well purposed in this God-ordained mission. The children are all lights in this dark village. Rebecca and Francis Nurse are both good servants of our coming Lord. I see and hear only good things in them, and they appear youthful, even in their ripe, old age. I spoke with Giles Corey yesterday. He mentioned his wife reading strange books, and the power of prayer. I did not spend much time with him, for there are greater works and cases at hand. Although I cannot put it out of mind that all of these background stories play a critical role in our purging of evil in Salem. I can only go into so much detail with these people due to my inexperience with them.

The Crucible was based in 1692 in and around the town of Salem, Massachusetts, USA. The Salem witch-hunt was view as one of the strangest and most horrendous chapters in the human history. People that were prosecuted were all innocent and their deaths were all due to false accusation of people’s ridiculous belief in superstition and their paranoia. The Puritans in those times were very strict in personal habits and morality; swearing, drunkenness and gambling would be punished. The people of Salem believed in the devil and thought that witchcraft should be hunted out.

Throughout the play as well as characters developing the theme of jealousy develops. The theme of jealousy and greed develops through the actions of characters holding jealousy such as Abigail and Thomas Putman. As the story and plot develops Abigail’s jealousy develops from just extreme loathing of Elizabeth and wanting Elizabeth to die and evolving to Elizabeth of witchcraft hoping she hangs. While in act III,Thomas Putnam is getting his daughter to convict women of being witches so he can buy up their land.”(Danforth)...He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail.”(Miller.89). This quote is found in act III and shows Putnam’s greed growing. His greed grows as does the number of individuals convicted and punished for allegedly performing witchcraft. Organization of the story is used to convey how Putnam is convicting,how many innocent people are being convicted and hanged and why Putnam is utilizing his