Examples Of Greed In The Crucible

In literature and in life, the opportunity of personal and corporate gain allows for easy manipulation of vulnerable circumstances, as seen primarily by the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Based upon the accusations of multiple vindictive Salem residents, the lack of empirical evidence, the lack of division in the church and state, and the lack of proper leadership in Salem allowed for certain members of society to claim revenge, manipulate citizens, and gain unprecedented religious influence. The continuation of these incentives caused the Trials to rapidly turn into hysteria, with dozens killed, and hundreds more convicted of faulty acts. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “‘Homo Economicus’ and the Salem Witch Trials” by Franklin G. Mixon, Jr., the nature of Salem residents is exposed, explaining how greed and selfishness led to the conviction of multiple men and women in the fall of 1692. Although religion and the Puritan ideology played a major role in these shocking figures, without the motivation of personal and corporate profit, the Salem Witch Trials would not have had the same devastating effects.

A society that praises moral righteousness and piety is destroyed by a series of witch trials that are ironically immoral and unfair. The Salem Witch Trials are fueled by personal motives and feuds that emerge because of the restrictions in Puritan society. The society nurtures a culture of fear and distrust that stems from dread of the devil and strict adherence to the Bible. Salem is the perfect environment for fear and vengeance to spread through witchcraft accusations, because people have no other means to gain power or get revenge on enemies. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays how the Puritan society in Salem influences the witch trials and increases their impact, because of the religion-based justice system, women and

Purist Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 suffered from a rapidly increasing phenomenon: witchcraft accusations and trials. The Crucible is a play that recounts the times of this incident. For the most part, it follows a man known as John Proctor. He is a sensible, honest, and hardworking man who made the mistake of succumbing to lust which sets off a chain of events that leads to the witch trials, and to his own demise. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible’s protagonist John Proctor proves to be a flawed human being who struggles to make sense of his past relationship with Abigail, his love for his wife, and his pride.

In Massachusetts during the late 1600’s, a series of prosecutions accusing people of witchcraft was a prominent event known as the Witch Trials (Salem witch trials, Wikepedia.com). As a result, many literature pieces, books, and poems were written based on the Witch Trials in Salem particularly, like Arthur Miller’s novel, The Crucible. The Crucible is well known for its incorporation of the Puritan community, making it an extensive novel, as noted by Susan Abbotson, an author who critiqued Miller’s work. Ms. Abbotson notes that much of the story is spent outside the courtroom and in the society as a whole. Consequently, her remark founded the discussion about the idea of power- hungry characters and corruption in The Crucible. In The Crucible

"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 involvement of the Putnam residence in the salem witch trials developed allegations of more fear in the Salem citizens, sense so many people had so much to hide or gain. An example of this is shown in Act 1 “ The land war he” ,Putnam, “ fought with his neighbors grew”. Thomas Putnam prevented Bayley from taking office causing more and more animosity. Later on in the story Putnam Tells his neighbor “ You load one

One of the most noble and well-respected citizens of Salem, this elderly woman is kindly and sane, suggesting that Betty 's illness is simply a product of being out too late in the cold. However, because she served as midwife to Mrs. Putnam, Rebecca Nurse is charged with the supernatural murder of Putnam 's children, who were each stillborn. Rebecca Nurse is the clear martyr in the play, the most pure and saintly character hanged for witchery.

“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.

Amongst the dancers was Abigail Williams, an orphan and servant to Reverend Parris. When accusations of witchcraft targeted the girls, Abigail lies and confesses to Satanism: “I danced with the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 48). The puritans fear the devil so much that they willingly believe Abigail’s accusations of those consorting with the devil and imprison those she points her finger towards. Thus, Abigail uses her newfound influence to arrest the wife of her paramour, John Proctor, revealing her true feelings of greed and passion during the madness of the witch trials. Abigail was not the only abuser of mayhem; similar acts of greed and jealousy surfaced as the trials proceeded. Giles Corey, an old farmer of Salem, accuses Thomas Putnam, a wealthy and influential citizen of Salem, of making his daughter accuse landowners of witchcraft: “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits up his property—that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land....The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs, he said she’d given him a fair gift of land” (Miller 96). Thomas Putnam 's greed uses the trials as means of monetary gain, thus prolonging the trials. Salem became a boiling pot of madness that melted away everyone 's pure and lustrous facade,

When Giles’ wife is accused of witchcraft because of him saying that she likes to read books, he automatically gets someone to say that they know what the Putnams are up to. This doesn’t help him because he won’t say the name, and so the court can only assume that he is making it up to get them in trouble. Mr. Putnam uses his daughter’s illness to accuse people of witchcraft. He is being too selfish to see that something is really going on and he won’t accept the fact that people can see what he is up to. What he won’t even begin to notice is the fact that there is something truly wrong with his daughter and he just wants to use her to make sure that he can get Giles’ land.

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.

Thomas Watson once said, “A man can no more extract blessedness out of sin than he can suck health out of poison.” This is a quote that relates to some of the beliefs of the Puritans. The puritans had very strict rules and regulations, and Abigail didn't really agree or fit with some of them. They were so rigid that the children and teenagers often got bored. When adolescents get bored bad things can happen. Abigail knew what she wanted to accomplish; therefore, she conformed to society saying that she saw the devil, because God wanted her to warn the citizens of the town, while she had her inner agenda concerning the witch trials.

Would you ever confess to witchcraft? In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, there are many concerns that are important to the plot of this play. One of the important issues is selfishness. In this story Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and John Proctor are selfish. The main plot is about a group of girls who go dancing in the forest in the middle of the night, and do witchcraft.

“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