Examples Of Evil In The Crucible

The swiftness of judgment of many people led to unfair trials. Many people from the play were considered guilty until proven innocent, and even then it was hard to prove innocence. You either conformed and said that you did witchcraft, or kept your dignity and went to the gallows. The fears of evil encroaching upon the people of Salem in The Crucible led to coincidences turning into witchcraft, harsh judgment of the accused, swift judgment of the accused, and many lives being ruined.

Does power corrupt the mind of individuals? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, power played a tremendous role in the Salem witch trials, which caused chaos and terror. Abigail Williams used the witch trials to her advantage by striking fear into people with the ability to accuse them of witchcraft. When Danforth, the deputy governor of Massachusetts, arrived to Salem, he was given judicial power that would affect Salem’s courthouse and as well Salem’s society. Danforth had the ability to make the decisions in court without any question, and he could also sentence anyone believed to be a “witch” to death. Abigail and her friends, a group of girls who want to protect themselves from being accused, also obtained a significant power after the Salem witch trials. They are able to accuse anyone they want of witchcraft with almost no question, since they have the court officials’ sympathy. These powerless individuals in Salem were strengthened by the Salem witch trials,

In the Crucible written by Arthur Miller, he essentially talks about “courage, weakness, and truth.” Arthur Miller gives multiple scenarios when different characters have their time to shine and take the reader's attention. They’re multiple examples to prove this statement. For example would be when Thomas Putman stated, “he felt that his own name and the honor of his family had been smirched by the village, and he meant to right matters however he could.” In this specific quote he is very courageous to say something like this and take the law into his own hands.

The play, The Crucible, is a fireball of guilt, evil, and good compiled into one magnification. It is a play with tremendous feelings, with many inside twists hidden in the archives of the true story. It is a play with emotional feelings; feelings of anger, hate, and evil, yet also feelings of goodness, and pureness. Undeniably, The Crucible is a play illustrating good versus evil.  The principal characters, Abigail Williams, John Proctor, Ann Putnam and Marry Warren all contain within them elements of good and evil.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical play set in 1962 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. As you may know, you've all placed your trust in the words and actions of someone close to you. And what do they do? They betray you! It's rarely justified, and can happen to the best of us. Based on authentic records of witchcraft trials in the seventeenth-century this play explains how a small group of girls manage to create a massive panic in their town by spreading accusations of witchcraft. These rumors in turn are the causes that many citizens are hung for. This essay will show how the lies and betrayal of a few individuals eventually leads to the downfall of Salem and its society.

Martin Luther King, Jr once commented:”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The Crucible written by Arthur Miller in 1953 introduces us a story of this kind that injustice brought by a character named Danforth brings the social malfunction of Salem accompanied by a breakdown of humanity and faith which destroys the interpersonal trust, social relationships and even many lives of many Salem residents. Obviously, when the structures become shackles and the judges mute off their voice of the truth, it leads the affliction and misery to the people. In our modern society, the public requires the power and presence of a fair justice system to protect their rights and convince, punish the offenders.

Even the best of us have at least one weakness; such as being a doormat, or not always being completely honest with people. That is exactly what happened in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Lies and fear are what fueled the fiery events that led to the tragedies of the Salem Witch Trials. These were also the fatal flaws of the three characters – Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Tituba – that caused the trials of Salem, unnecessary arrests, and deaths of numerous innocent people.

"You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!" (Miller 44) In this quote Reverend Parris is threatening Tituba to confess to

Wayne Dyer, a wise doctor who once said, “The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about but refuse to investigate.” Ignorance can be defined as an uninformed or uneducated condition. How could one reject something they know nothing about without even acquiring information on the matter? Ignorance is clearly shown in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, regarding the judges of the Salem Witch Trials. Inspired by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s, The Crucible focuses on the Salem witch trials and the hidden agendas of those involved as well as the lack of accountability of those who were truly responsible. The play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, in a unforgiving colony. The mass hysteria of the town begins with girls in the forest appearing to be practicing witchcraft. This begins a controversy that has detrimental consequences. Judge Danforth is most responsible for the mass hysteria in Salem because he neglected any thoughts of justice and replaced them with only thoughts of ignorance and power.

During the Salem Witch Trials, there was a time of hysteria; everyone was accusing everyone, and no one could defend themselves. What the accusers didn’t realize, was that that they all had a common motive behind their accusations, and that was power. The power in a Puritan society was only given to specific people, but by making accusations, it could be gained. This wasn’t just specific to this time period though, because throughout different time periods, power has always come with status, and no matter a person’s position in society, status wants to be gained. In The Crucible, the struggle for power is made evident through characters and their subliminal actions during the witch trials, which reveals that power is held within the church,

“The arrogant are wise in their own eyes, but the wise will recognize their lies” (Anonymous). This quote accurately describes how the events in the Salem Witch Trials unfolded. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, places the reader into the city of Salem, Massachusetts. Arthur Miller tells a fictional story based on real events of how people who were wise in their own eyes used others to better themselves in a community based on honesty. Three characters from the story stand apart in their arrogance. Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Parris were conceited and cared only about their personal gains. These characters used their power to blame, but not to be blamed or accused of alleged witchcraft which resulted in the deaths of several townspeople. Arthur Miller used these characters to illustrate how simple lies and rumors can spread and become an unstoppable force. With these simple but powerful accusations, well respected citizens soon became the targets of these characters manipulation.

There are many conflicts that arise due to decisions characters make. The characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller all have one thing in common corrupting the entire town and is all at fault for most of the actions decisions, and conflict displayed in the book. This corruption can be described in one word: Greed. Driving the town to go after one another greed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is the true antagonist of the book, for it provokes most of the conflict in the book. This can all be proven with definitions and impacts of greed tot all of the characters, examples and how it relates back to the plot of the book.

The world has seen numerous accounts of persecution throughout history. In the Salem Witch Trials, one of the most wicked persecutions to occur, the people accused more than two hundred people of witchcraft and executed twenty people with only spectral evidence. For this reason, many view this period as a very merciless time. Similarly, the possessions at Loudun parallels with the Salem Witch Trials. The nuns of St Pierre du Marche accused Urbain Grandier, an appointed priest, of bewitching and assaulting them in 1634. Their proof also came from spectral evidence: the nuns’ hallucinations, fainting, and dreams. Two other priests of the church, Mignon and Pierre Barre, saw these accusations as a perfect way to have Grandier removed. Mignon and Pierre did a series of exorcisms on the nuns to have them cleansed from the Devil. After a few months, the people discovered a note showing Grandier’s compact with the Devil and he was immediately placed in prison. Grandier, placed under extreme torture, never confessed to witchcraft as he knew of his innocence; he was later burned at the stake. Grandier’s refusal to confess demonstrated his test on moral principles and self-respect when faced with difficulties.

The McCarthy hearings (The Red Scare) in the 1950’s with the political issues that were happening during those years could be depicted as the 1692/93 Salem Witch Trials. Accusing people of being communists is the same as accusing people of being witches. Arthur Miller, the author of the play,The Crucible, that was based on the Salem Witch Trials is a good example of a morality play. In 1692, there were accusations against innocent people in the town of Salem. In The Crucible, a group of teens accuse others of witchcraft even though, they are trying to cover up their mistakes that had been caused. After John Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams this had opened a full can of worms throughout Salem. The Crucible displays characterization and bold symbolism and is represented in good and evil morals during the Salem Witch Trials.

The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. It is based off of the 1662 Salem witch trials written as a parallel between this time period and the Red Scare, the time period in which he was living. There are many topics explored throughout the play, but the most important is hypocrisy, which can be seen in several characters.