Examples Of Manipulation 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 1964 kitty genovese was stabbed and raped near her hapartment in kew gardens, queens while more than 30 people stood by and watched as the murderer left repeatedly and came back to “ finish the job”. No one called the police.This is the bystander effect when individuals do not offer help to a victim when numerous other people are present,because they feel like the other person will call or help and no one ever does. Social conformity is a type of influence that results in a change of behavior or belief in order to fit in with a group. This is not a new issue we have seen examples of this in The salem witchcraft trials, and the red scare this shows people will often conform to what society deems as acceptable to avoid persecution from their peers,despite the strain it puts on their moral and ethical values.

“Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.” Is known as the Straw man fallacy. This fallacy has been used various times in the famous play by Arthur Miller “The Crucible” (1952). Below is an example of a Straw man fallacy, along with examples of from in “The Crucible” Arthur Miller (1952).

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.

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

A respectable reputation is a commonly sought after title that many will go to extreme lengths to achieve. In the late 1600’s reputation was everything. The characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible manipulate the truth and strike fear into others to furiously protect their reputation.

When a person comes across two alternatives, more often than not they believe they have to choose from the two. Arthur Miller utilizes the Fallacy of the false alternative to influence the decisions of each character. For example. Parris provides two alternatives to Proctor, "There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning, (30)" in order to defend himself. The confrontation between the two leads to distrust between the individuals. The others observers end up siding with Parris because of the reaction to the two choices Proctor expresses. It leaves them divided.

Reverend Parris’s main motivation is to preserve his reputation at any cost, whether by unbelievable behavior or through falsehood. For example, when Reverend Parris discovers the girls dancing in the forest, he hastily warns Abigail that his reputation is in jeopardy by conveying, “Now look you, child, your punishment will come in its time. But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it” (10). Since Abigail is family, Parris has no tolerance when it comes to his reputation so he willingly enforces discipline to maintain his status. Also, as a minister, his role is

Fear is the direct result of manipulation. In Act 3 of The Crucible, manipulation is employed many times in order to create an atmosphere of fear and often resulting in the byproduct of fear. During the trial of Abigail Williams, the issue of Proctor’s affair with Abigail arises; in order for Abigail to be defamed, Elizabeth needs to be honest; however, Judge Danforth utilizes tricky wording such as “has John Proctor ever committed the crime of lechery?” to create the feeling of it being John’s trial not Abigail’s(Miller 113). Danforth’s manipulation of how Elizabeth views the trials ends with the prosecution fearing for their lives and reputation. This created atmosphere of fear plays to Abigail's position giving her more power and persuasive

The Salem Witch Trials were a time of frenzied zealotry and paranoia, and in such times, most logic seems to go out the window. One fallacy in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is the fallacy of the false alternative. It is exemplified during the witch proceedings when Francis Nurse presents a paper of signatories declaring their good opinion of his wife. Danforth arrests all of the signatories for questioning. At Francis’ objection that he has promised that no hurt would come to these people Danforth replies “No old man, you have not hurt these people if they are of good conscience. But you must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against this court, there be no road in between.” (Miller 87). The conversation is merely a variation on the classic false alternative, “You’re either with us, or you’re against us.” The trouble with that logic is that Francis was merely trying to defend his wife from almost certain death. He was not trying to attack the court as Parris states, nor was he really for the court. In disproving this logic we can look at Francis as a counterexample: Not against the court, but not supportive of the court’s actions

“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.

Parris does not hide his greed for fame and fortune throughout the play as he accused many times by Proctor for wanting luxurious things put in the church, such as golden candlesticks, and the deed to the designated minister's house. Proctor says “Mr. Parris, you are the first minister ever did demand the deed to this house”(Miller 1274), he is saying this because early Proctor sees himself that he is just looking for some popularity through ministry. Parris who doesn't just deny these accusations, but instead tries to justify them by saying there is usually a

Reverend Parris is often seen as one of the most greedy characters within The Crucible. An example of this can be seen in a discussion about payment, where Parris announces, “Mr. Corey, you will look far for a man of my kind at sixty pound a year! I am not used to this poverty; I left a thrifty business in the Barbados to serve the Lord. I do not fathom it, why am I persecuted here?” (Miller 841). Here, Parris exhibits one of the most common forms of greed. Parris is complaining about his pay, and demanding more in order to be properly paid. Reverend Parris is thinking about his salary while his daughter is unconscious and believed to be under the power of witchcraft. Parris lets his greed take priority above his daughter. I cannot think of any reason that a father would put money ahead of his unconscious daughter. While it is the first example of greed in the play, it is certainly not the only example of a greed of possession.

Reverend Samuel Parris is motivated to sustain his reputation because he took years to build up his name. Some of the folks already see him as unfit as the reverend. Having the assumption that there are sinful practices taking place under his roof, he, at first, denies the involvement of witchcraft with the odd behavior Betty displays. However, when a majority of the townspeople believe in the involvement of witchery. He does not want his name and reputation to be tarnished due to witchcraft, so he plays along and supports Betty’s and Abigail’s accusations. He uses Tituba as a scapegoat to divert the suspicion towards him. Parris threatens to whip Tituba if she does not confess that she has dealings with the Devil, and pushes her to her breaking point. Parris is motivated to uphold his reputation and tries to divert the possible blame and suspicion towards him to

Life is valuable and precious that everyone alive possesses, but when you encounter the undeserved inevitable fate of cruel death or false charges, can you really protect yourself? The McCarthyism era brought the definition of despair upon the American people who does nothing but let it happen. The Crucible outlines the infuriating unfairness in the town of Salem of how their deepest grudges and apprehensions can cover their rationality. The saying of “history repeats itself” clearly represents the characters between The Crucible and the American people during the McCarthyism era proves how manipulation and lies can ruin them as a whole.