Attitudes In The Crucible

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.

How many times has one action by one person influenced crowds of people to follow? This scenario has taken place numerous times throughout history. This psychological occurrence is known as “mob mentality”: when a group of people is influenced by a person’s actions to change their behavior and think as a group. During the time period that The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood took place in, the people worked together to deal with any threat to their beliefs. The communities relied on the judgment of their peers, hence why mob mentality was an important aspect of both works. In both pieces of literature, the authors illustrate the hysteria the people of Salem and Northampton experienced, and how they dealt

Mrs. Herron stated incident involving Dr. LaMonda was like no other experience she had ever had in her life. She said she didn’t use the type of language Dr. LaMonda did nor did appreciate it being used in her presence.

One last nonverbal observation I will mention is that of Person A’s posture. He generally sat hunched over the table, rarely sitting up straight. Combined with the other nonverbal observations, this posture suggests he wanted to be as near to Person B as possible.

What is a moral dilemma? A moral dilemma is a man versus self conflict. It is when a character has to perform two different actions, but they can not perform both actions because it is not possible. Authors use moral dilemmas in their writings to retain the reader’s interest in the book or play and to have the reader ask questions. People often face many life altering choices such as right versus wrong or good versus bad. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, John Proctor chooses to die because he does not want to blacken his name throughout Salem and to ruin his sons’ names when they grow up.

gives the nurse back much of the control she once held previously. It is however offset by the

“A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud—God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together!” (Proctor, Act III, pg. 194) In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the people of Salem falsely accuse each other to find another to condemn and forget about their own flawed doings within the village. Some find the wrong in the mendacious and stand up, some fall into the temptation and weakness, and others try to find the veracity in it all. The Crucible is about courage, weakness, and truth which each individual faces throughout the plot of the play because of one mistake that happens further spiraling into deaths and disaster.

The black boys come sign for him [the new admission] and take him into the shower room, where they strip him and leave him shivering with the door open while they all three run grinning up down the halls looking for the Vaseline, “We need that Vaseline,” they’ll tell the Big Nurse, “for the thermometer”. She looks from one to the other: “I’m sure you do,” and hands them a jar holds at least a gallon. (Kesey 9)

Women in modern society are often expected to be kind, pure, passive, and submissive towards men, but that does not describe most women today. If a woman does not conform to this accepted type of behaviour, they are written off as being some of the worst that society has to offer: women that are bitchy, cold hearted, and impure. Arthur Miller purposefully stereotypes the women in the Crucible to make a statement concerning the treatment of women in modern society. Miller is making the statement that most women is modern society are viewed as having many negative characteristics, just because of their gender. In the Crucible, Miller primarily used Mary Warren, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams to show how negative stereotypes are used

My first impression of Clarisse is that she is open-minded and that she thinks outside of the box. I thought that she was different from the others.

In today’s society, young girls are often depicted as petty, immature, and helpless. One cause may be because the stereotype is encouraged and supported through the literature that is read. This stereotype is perpetuated in the following literary works. In Katherine Howe’s Conversion, the local private school for girls, St. Joan’s Academy, is overcome with a mysterious sickness. The sickness is thought to be because of an element in the environment, but it is simply caused by substantial amounts of stress.

The tragic events of the Salem witch trials tested the morality of several individuals, who abided to a government based on religious intolerance and limitation. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” highlights the detrimental effects of the religious court, and the impact Puritan societal norms had on its citizens. Reverend Hale, a protagonist in the play serves as a balance between morality versus and the religious conformity that took place within society. His transformation throughout the play demonstrates his true intention in doing what is right and abiding by the correct ideals, instead of following the damaging priorities enrooted in the theocratic system. Throughout “The Crucible,” Reverend Hale transfers from adhering to a theocracy to prioritizing the true value of life, revealing his maintenance of a strong moral code.

It can be argued that the very concept of a choiceless choice disqualifies the action undertaken as ethical. Ethical choices are by their very nature the result of willful choice, even if they are not always the result of rational reflection. However, subject to extreme levels of coercion, those placed in a position of a choiceless choice are compelled to act in ways that have been judged as both self-serving and harmful. In Arthur Miller’s playwright The Crucible, Reverend Parris's slave, Tituba, is turned in by Abigail for calling on the Devil.

In the concept of modernism there are two ethical ideas: theological ethics and humanistic ethics. Two big influences of Puritan ideology and these ethics were Martin Luther and John Calvin. From them came the ideas of limited atonement, irresistible grace, and on the opposite side of thought, the idea that all people were endowed with grace from God. The three works that we read all take these ideas into account, and the result is a common theme and ethics between the reads. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, The Crucible, and The Scarlet Letter all reflect the concept of theological ethics, or the idea that what God says must be done regardless of the consequence.

Proctor. For the first and only time in the play we see Abigail as her