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.

Poor Behavior in “The Crucible” Who causes judgement and has a nasty personality? This is The Crucible where you, the reader, would learn about greed, wrath, and pride of the characters and the impact of poor behavior that every character share throughout The Crucible. People in The Crucible fight for land ownership in Salem. One example, for greed on land, is when Giles Corey states that Thomas Putnam is accusing his neighbors of witchcraft. In other words, Thomas Putnam disputes land boundaries with John Proctor.

In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he strongly outlines Puritanism and its effects on the village of Salem. The intensity of the Puritanism religion lead to an overwhelming sense of suspicion and paranoia coupled with personal issues in the tightknit community. It can easily be concluded that the witch trials started and quickly escalated due to the issues that branch off of Puritanism.. The most paramount of the effects from Puritanism include hysterical fear, personal grudges, and the struggle of upholding reputations.

Many of the characters in Arthur Miller's The Crucible have specific human flaws that cause the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem villagers exhibit failings, including greed, vengeance, and fear, which eventually lead to the downfall of their town. Many villagers, especially Abigail Williams, take advantage of the opportunity to seek vengeance on others through the trials. Greed for power and land often holds precedence when the hysteria takes over. Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price.

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.

Arthur Miller writes about the tragic results of human failings in his play, The Crucible. He presents characters from the past and infuses them with renewed vitality and color. Miller demonstrates the horrifying results of succumbing to personal motives and flaws as he writes the painful story of the Salem witch trials. Not only do the trials stem from human failings but also from neglect of moral and religious considerations of that time. Characters begin to overlook Puritan values of thrift and hope for salvation. Focusing on the flawed characters, they begin to exhibit land lust, envy of the miserable and self-preservation.

The book, Crucible is the source behind this essay based on the incidents which happened in the town of Salem in 1692. The happenings in this point of history is most popularly known as “The Salem Witch Trials.” The author of this book wrote this because of his involvement in the Cold War when he was accused of things he either did or did not do. What happened in his life during the Cold War is parallel to the characters in the town of Salem when they are accused and brought before a court to determine their innocence and interaction with the Devil. From observing the Crucible by Arthur Miller the cause of the Salem Witch Trials is stupidity and an insecurity to hold a good reputation; selfishness found on three accounts: the church/court, John Proctor, and Abigail.

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller examines the topic of fear and how it is used to silence the “problem” and force others into false evidence. In this play, along with the real Salem Witch Trials, fear was a weapon used by people in power to control their “enemies”. The characters are completely ruled by fear and it was mainly caused by the tough punishments given to those who disobeyed puritan morals which causes the characters to quickly deny and accuse others of witchcraft to save themselves, creating unnecessary deaths of the innocent.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he writes, “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller 77). This partially fictionalized tale of the Salem Witch Trials points to one of the causes of the trials, vengeance, but the over dramatized tale 's early stages were quiet. The Salem Witch Episode had humble beginnings in the town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, but evolved into one of the most widely known witch trials in American History. The gallows in Salem claimed the lives of nineteen men and woman during the spring and summer of 1692 due to the accusations of witchcraft with over a hundred people who were accused. After all the terror and the uproar of the trials occurred, everything came to a screeching halt (Linder 1). Due to the unique circumstances of this particular set of witch trials, from the rampant accusations to the discontinuation of the trials mass hysteria does not seem to be fault as with other witch trials, but a variety of factors. The Salem witch trials were not just a simple case of mass hysteria, but a combination of factors ranging from poisons to superstitions to scapegoats, resulting in the outbreak of the Salem Witch episode.

Throughout history, many horrific incidents based on an act of violence or disagreement have resulted in panic and mass hysteria. These historical events include but are not limited to, The Holocaust, mass shootings, and 9/11. Many of these tragic events have led to people being immensely afraid. These events often create fear for those who participate in everyday activities. A healthy community consists of a support system, peace, trust, and adhering to societal laws. Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, illustrates parallels between the Salem 17th century witch trials and the Communist Red Scare in the 1950’s to exemplify how destructive irrational fear and mass hysteria can become. When a community is overcome with fear it creates an insalubrious system of mistrust, corruption, hypocrisy, and the defiance of laws. Conflict relating to witchcraft in The Crucible, led to tension and struggle for the people of Salem. In his allegory, Arthur Miller illustrates the devastating impact of irrational fear on a community through the actions of the characters of Abigail Williams, Judge Danforth and Judge Hathorne.

During the 1900’s, the Salem Witch Trials were taking place. This brought a lot of controversy and to this day affects the way people interact. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, wrote his book during this time period to give a better understanding of how people reacted to witches and also to inform readers on the events that took place and hope the same mistakes aren't repeated. Superstitions, fear, lies,first impressions and the saving of ourselves from trouble play a major part not only in the book but also in the world today and on why we act the way we do in certain circumstances. There are many situations in which we are against the wall and feel as if there is no other way out than to blame others.

Justice in the town of Salem has become a conspiracy. In The Crucible, many people are accused and punished for witchcraft. All these accusations come from manipulative individuals who are driven to destroy people they show prejudice to. In his play, Arthur Miller depicts the unstable foundation of Justice and gives the reader and insight on the Salem Witch Trials. The town of Salem's perception on justice is the driving factor for the deaths of countless innocents. In The Crucible, justice is based on personal objectives, theocracy, and social status.

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.

“Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for these, weeps for corruption” [Miller 134]. Sadly, the previous quote from the play, The Crucible, was a common fate for people who were accused of witchcraft if they did not confess. This fictional theater tragedy, written by Arthur Miller, is about the past Puritan society staged in the settlement of Salem, in which superstition and religion intertwine with law to make the ultimate societal poison. If seen doing something questionable, citizens were accused of witchcraft. If bad blood stirs between two people, one might accuse the other of witchcraft. If a person was accused of witchcraft, they might use someone else as a scapegoat. If these people don’t confess to their accusations, they hang. In this play, the characters that exhibit the use of reason and logic to combat the fear and paranoia ultimately end up accused and prosecuted by the Puritan society. Various examples of this occurring happen throughout the tragedy, and various examples will be illustrated and evaluated, starting with a character called John Proctor.

Selfishness has been the bane of humanity since the beginning of time. Many great civilizations have fallen due to greed. Humans were separated from God by the heinous power of selfishness. Selfishness can tear people apart from one another, and it thrives in every society; the town of Salem was no exception. All throughout Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, characters falsely accused each other to save themselves. In the beginning of the play, Salem was displayed as a perfect and strictly religious town, but the audience soon realized that Salem was just as selfish and disheveled as any other society. As a blanket of hysteria cloaked Salem, friends and family were torn apart by the selfish gestures of others. The Selfish actions of Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth led to the deaths of many innocent people.