Examples Of Greed 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.

In “The Crucible” Arthur Miller made the plot develops through the conflicts by using high tension and climaxes. He ends each of the four acts with a climax. In addition, he allowed the protagonist to develop throughout the acts. “The Crucible” has many internal and external conflicts. The major external conflict is John Proctor trying to save his wife from being hanged by the town officials for supposedly being a witch. The major internal conflict is John trying to decide between saving himself and family from being hanged, or accept the death penalty for false accusations against him. The main conflict sharply differentiated good and evil as John Proctor, the protagonist of the play is faced with the

“The Devil and Tom Walker” Allegory Throughout the history of literature there have been many prominent and robust allegories published. “The Devil and Tom Walker” is a short story written by Washington Irving. An allegory can be represented as a story, poem, or essay that can be picked apart to reveal a hidden meaning, usually a moral or political one.

In the short story “The Devil and Tom Walker”, the author shows greed by the main character selling his soul for a large treasure, being a cheap and greedy moneylender, and the lack of the main character and his wife sharing the wealth between each other in order to show that people will do anything for money and become rich.

Enviousness is sometimes described as psychic tumor, and can be destructive at times, how that temptation of jealousy can overwhelm people and ruin people around. This situation is successfully introduced in the play The Crucible, how many characters are jealous of people around them, and such action of envying not only destroyed people who practiced envy but also people around. In the play The Crucible, Miller’s uses of compare and contrast between Abigail William and Mr. Putnam brings out their similar motive for their desire for power, which is envy. As a result of their envying of others, many innocent people died, thus demonstrates the dangers of envy.

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.

In Washington Irving’s short story The Devil and Tom Walker, greed is shown to be a terrible trait that comes with many negative affects. Revealed by Irving when he introduced the setting, Tom Walker lived a miserable life isolated with his untrustworthy wife due to his miserly personality, and by this Irving was showing that living a life of greed will ultimately lead to misery. When decisions are being made based on greed and self benefit it will alter one thinking process and help you to make harmful and unintelligent decisions, as shown by Irving represented by greed based decisions both Tom and his wife made. Irvin also illustrated that you can be overwhelmed by greed and it can metaphorically turn

Jealousy is when you really want something someone else has. Abigail shows jealousy because she hates the fact that Elizabeth is married to John Proctor. Abigail wants John Proctor for herself because she fell in love with him when he had an affair with her. Abigail was a maid for the Proctors and Elizabeth knew that John and Abigail were having an affair. So Elizabeth dismissed Abigail and started telling lies about Abigail and this made her mad. In The Crucible, it stated that “ Abigail: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, shoveling women, and you bend to her. Let her turn you” (Miller. 22). This quote shows how Abigail is mad at Elizabeth. Abigail told John Elizabeth is tricking you to love her and that you can be happier if you are with me. In the novel The Crucible, it stated that “Abigail: with a bit anger : oh I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be -- Proctor: angered at himself as well: You'll speak nothin of Elizabeth” (Miller 20-22). This quote shows how Abigail is telling John Proctor that she is ugly, weak, old, and sick. She wants Procter to leave Elizabeth for herself, she is better than Elizabeth and she doesn’t need to be taken care of like Elizabeth.

“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.

Greed can really affect how someone acts, and to understand how it affects the characters it’s helpful to understand what it means. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of greed is “excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions” (Dictionary.com). Greed is a desire that someone will go to an extent to get for their own benefit; a character trait most of the characters have in the book. For example, Abigail shouting names to accuse because she can’t handle not having the attention on her. In her case, she is greedy for attention and is willing to let others suffer in jail so she can get it. “I saw Goody Sibber with the Devil...I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil… I saw Goody Booth with the Devil”(Miller 48). She is putting all these poor people in jail, for she is greedy for attention.

Merrian-Webster Dictionary defines greed as a selfish and excessive desire for more of something. Greed causes people's decisions to be abnormal and cause them to do things they would normally not do. The gas shortage in Texas after the Hurricane Harvey and the characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller both show the motif of greed as seen through the interviews and the characters, Parris and Thomas Putnam. Where their greed causes their decisions to hurt others emotions. We see the motif of greed a lot during the gas shortage during Hurricane Harvey, “The shortage may have been largely prevented if drivers had continued filling their vehicles as normal, according to CNN”(Pearce).

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.

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.

One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.

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.