Examples Of Evil In The Crucible

People believe that actions happen for many different reasons and tend to blame others before themselves. Some believe that the devil is doing the work in the body of someone else, and some believe that the devil does not, and some even believe in witchcraft. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, nineteen innocent people are hung for accusations of performing witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. A group of young girls go out into the woods which is forbidden in Salem. They are sent into a frenzy when the town’s reverend, Parris, spots them dancing in the woods. The girls are led by Abigail Williams, a young teenage girl who lives with her uncle, reverend Parris. Abigail is not the most truthful girl, which ends up causing 19 innocent people their lives. Previous to these events, Abigail was a servant in the Proctor household, but was sent off after Elizabeth Proctor found out about the affair between Abigail and her husband, John Proctor. In Abigail’s case the more lies she told, the more lives she ended.

Although “good and evil” have varying meanings to different people, the words are defined by both morality and actions. Good and evil aren't black and white concepts since there are different sects on the two topics. Evil is both inherent and not; some people are influenced to do bad things that shape them into “evil” beings. The dictionary definition of “good” is defined as being morally righteous. One of the separate sects is the idea that “good” people themselves can turn “bad” and vice versa. In addition, Influence is a very powerful thing that can end up controlling and changing the way someone acts and thinks. In the book, “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, the concept of judgement and influence convey senses of “evil” in Salem.

"He states that you coldly prompted your daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs that is now in jail" (96). In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, people would do anything to get what they want. In the town of Salem good vs. evil plays a big role. The people of Salem are constantly debating about who is telling the truth and who is lying. People are also judged based on their religious views. Even though they had a lack of evidence, the town of Salem mislabeled people as good or 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.

The year is 1692. Throughout the small, Puritan, seaside community of Salem, rumors and accusations fly like gusts of ocean wind. Neighbors turn on neighbors, and even the most holy church-goers are accused of being the devil’s servants. The Crucible details this real-life tragedy of the Salem witch trials, in which nineteen members of the Salem community were hanged for alleged witchcraft. Abigail Williams, a seemingly innocent girl, accuses dozens of Salem’s citizens of witchcraft through the support of her mob of girls and the complicity of the court officials. The title of this play gives significant insight into the experiences of several of these Salem citizens. Although a crucible is often used in chemistry for heating up substances, the title of the play carries a much greater weight. In his famous play The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the title of “crucible” to signify the severe and unrelenting tests of faith and character that many of the community members endure throughout the Salem witch trials, which he achieves through the use of figurative language and fallacies of relevance and insufficiency.

Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” is one of the most controversial, and famous plays he has ever written due to its representation of the clear similarities between witch hunts of the past to the ones that where ongoing during the red scare of the 1950's. The play is specifically set during the Salem witch trials/hunts that occurred in 1692. While portions of the play are fiction, the play itself is historically accurate, especially when it comes to identifying who the villain is. It is unequivocally clear that the villain in this sad story is the young girl, Abigail Williams. While the case can be made that there where obviously other villains that had a more direct role in the injustices that occurred during the witch trials, at the end of the day no matter how you look at it Abigail was the main/real villain because she was the initial instigator of the witch hunts, practiced deceit and deception, influenced her vengeful will upon others, and lied; without hesitation nor remorse. These dishonorable qualities that Abigail possess combined with her own motives to gain vengeance(kill) against Elizabeth Proctor and assume her place as John Proctor's(her love interest) wife is enough evidence to make an educated claim that Abigail Williams in fact the main antagonist, and ultimately the villain.

Numerous innocent people were killed on behalf of religious beliefs of being witches. Betty, a young girl, was found in the woods “conjuring” the devil with other girls and became severely ill after this. Preceding Betty’s suspicious illness was the Salem Witch trials. People believed Betty to be the victim of a witch. Abigail, one of the girls who was with Betty, declares numerous innocent women as witches, trying to protect herself from what she was doing in the woods. Abigail’s claims caused people from the town, including the Proctors, Parris, and Abigail, to protect their names whether positively or negatively. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows that people who value one’s reputation will protect it despite how it affects

More than 200 people were accused of being witches in the 1600’s Salem Witch Trials. Even though many people were assumed witches, only 20 people denied the false claims and were, therefore, hung (Blumberg). The integrity of those who denied any accusations and refused to give into the claims is shown through Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Written during the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller attempts to warn people of the dangers of blame and giving into fear through his play. In the 1690s, fear of witches and the Devil riddled the town of Salem, causing them to act hysterically, jump to conclusions and point fingers at others to save themselves. Although most everybody in the town was taken over by this fear and hysteria, there were a selective few who stayed mentally strong throughout the experience. Among these few were John and Elizabeth Proctor, Martha and Giles Corey and Rebecca Nurse. These characters are among the few that are respected in the town of Salem and, for the most part, seen as noble people with righteous intentions. One reason these people are so high in this town is because of their ability to stand up for themselves and their beliefs. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the motif of integrity to show people’s bravery to stand up against the powerful; thus, Miller emphasizes that one who stands true to their beliefs in the face of conformity remains on the highest ground of morality.

There were many conflicts and troubles in this play. No one was getting along and there were many arguments. This all started when Abigail and a group of girls went dancing in a forest trying to conjure up spirits. They get caught and to not get in trouble, the girls blame others and somehow get away with it. Many people are taken to jail, and many even hung. All this instead of just telling the truth. Many struggle with telling the truth because they are scared of the consequence. “Keeping everyone happy and telling the truth at the same time is an extraordinarily difficult art.” (Howell). By Abigail blaming others, it causes the judge to come in the picture and many more others. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, a young girl named Abigail, Judge Danforth, and all the townspeople were the reasons why there were so much mass hysteria in Salem.

When reading “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, it is clear to see many evil forces are in play throughout the book. For example, evil forces can be displayed by the character Abigail William. Throughout the play there are numerous instances that prove her guilt and display that evil forces exist with her character.

Our Sinful Nature Humans can be good, humans can be bad. But every human has a little evil within them. We can be represented as Yin-Yangs. Bad people have a little good within them, and good people have a little bad within them. But we all have bad within us.

“Few serve truth in truth because only few have the pure will to be just.” These words of Friedrich Nietzsche exhibit the exact root of the atrocities that occur in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In Miller’s drama, the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts is overtaken by a wave of mass hysteria when accusations of witchcraft spread through the town. In the play, the accused witches are tried in court, where their fates are decided by the hand of Deputy Governor Danforth and his so-called divinely appointed tribunal. It is this self-embedded thought of divine appointment that causes Danforth’s faith in the court to hinder his reasoning to the real motives behind the accusations. Due to his oblivious nature to the inner-workings of the people of the trials, Danforth only further aggravates the already

Warning! If you are sensitive to negative opinions, don’t read this passage! The impact of poor behavior is exhibited throughout the crucible. Most of the characters act badly.

My grandfather, Sie Jewell, is a good man. He served in the military as a marine when he was young, protecting the higher ranked men around him in the Philippines. When Sie got out of the military he took a full time job at General Electric, working there by day. Then, he came home for a short time to eat dinner when he would depart to go to the fire station. He volunteered there, not as a fighter, but as a volunteer fire chief. He is a trustworthy, honorable man. These qualities greatly contrast with the qualities of people in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and the common man. This play illustrates everything bad in humanity with the lie of the Salem Witch Trials, and the story of how it happened. It shows that human instinct hard wires evil

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is about the people of 17th century.Salem, Massachusetts situated in a dangerous and dynamic period. The Puritans of Salem joined the bandwagon of the witch hysteria that was first caused by girls falsely accusing others. The inhabitants of Salem feared for their lives as the people who were accused were subjected to death. However, the accused have a chance to save themselves by admitting to a crime they did not commit. Many took the opportunity for self-preservation because it is a human instinct of survival. However, there others who chose to uphold their ideals, name, and reputation. Self-preservation is the motivates the characters to behave and act when they are situated in a compromising situation about the involvement of witchcraft, but there are also times when it is abandoned.