Examples Of Supernatural In The Crucible

American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible (1952), suggests that witch hunts still exist in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph McCarthy Trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals (pathos) and logic (logos) to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The main way, however, that Miller achieves his ultimate goal of demonstrating the dangers of individuality vs. ideology is through the vivid characterization of Mary Warren. Mary Warren is an example of an outwardly conforming character because in the play she tells Abigail that she wants to tell

The swiftness of judgment of many people led to unfair trials. Many people from the play were considered guilty until proven innocent, and even then it was hard to prove innocence. You either conformed and said that you did witchcraft, or kept your dignity and went to the gallows. The fears of evil encroaching upon the people of Salem in The Crucible led to coincidences turning into witchcraft, harsh judgment of the accused, swift judgment of the accused, and many lives being ruined.

Throughout Act I of The Crucible, Reverend Parris’s selfishness and Abigail’s manipulation becomes apparent. Giles Corey and Parris get into an argument about Parris’s income before Reverend Hale arrives. In this argument, it is revealed that Parris demanded the deed for his house. Traditionally, the minister does not own his house, but Parris wanted the wealth associated with owning land. Reverend Parris also demonstrates his self-serving mentality when questioning Abigail. Parris explains, “Now then, in the midst of such disruption, my own household is discovered to be the very center of some obscene practice. Abominations are done in the forest-”. Instead of worrying about Betty’s health, he cares about his reputation and employment.

Artur Miller calls his play the crucible. The crucible means a severe test. In the crucible the characters faith is being tested. The town doesn’t show their true faith because they don’t practice what they preach. Due to the town lack of faith when they are tested some fail miserably.

Does power corrupt the mind of individuals? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, power played a tremendous role in the Salem witch trials, which caused chaos and terror. Abigail Williams used the witch trials to her advantage by striking fear into people with the ability to accuse them of witchcraft. When Danforth, the deputy governor of Massachusetts, arrived to Salem, he was given judicial power that would affect Salem’s courthouse and as well Salem’s society. Danforth had the ability to make the decisions in court without any question, and he could also sentence anyone believed to be a “witch” to death. Abigail and her friends, a group of girls who want to protect themselves from being accused, also obtained a significant power after the Salem witch trials. They are able to accuse anyone they want of witchcraft with almost no question, since they have the court officials’ sympathy. These powerless individuals in Salem were strengthened by the Salem witch trials,

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 story ¨The Crucible¨ there are many examples of fear leading to superstition then leading to loss of logic. Some examples of superstition in the story are people getting accused of witchcraft for reading, being in possession of poppets (dolls), or just not confessing. People in the story are wrongfully accused and killed because people had lost their logic from being so afraid of witchcraft. They looked for any possible way to accuse anybody, and would believe anyone who would blame somebody. Even if the accusation doesn´t make sense, there was so much fear and hysteria leading people to believe anything. The first example in the story about superstition is when Giles Corey is having a conversation

Out with the old and in with the new, transcendentalists’ began rejecting old Puritan and Calvinist ideas, these old ideas are deeply imbedded in the minds of the people of Salem. During the witch trails instead rejected these old ideas they were clung to. However, transcendentalists’ rejected these old ideas, thus making themselves individuals and optimistic, and by rejecting such they expressed their emotions and saw God through nature rather than the strict guild lines of the church. A protagonist of transcendentalism would accept these ideas.

The supernatural has always fascinated and continues to intrigue mankind. In many of Shakespeare’s plays, he uses the supernatural to strengthen a particular scene or to influence the impression the audience has about someone or something. This was not strange or uncommon in Shakespeare’s time. In fact, during the 1500s, many people still believed in witches and witchcraft. Even in today’s society, with such advanced science and technology, many people are still influenced, if not dictated by the supernatural. For example, religious people have the belief that their saviour, Jesus Christ was a man of many miracles; one of which was he turned water into wine. Despite the fact that it

A hero is a person noted for brave acts or goodness of character. A person who face the danger and combats the evil. Heroic leaders have the purpose of achieving the goal, regardless of the challenging difficulties. Often sacrificing their own personal concerns for a greater good Some qualities are passion, integrity, honesty, confidence, patience, selflessness, courageous, and humble. An example of a hero is John Proctor. He is a tormented man. He believes his affair with Abigail irreparably injured him in the eyes of God, his wife Elizabeth, and himself. True, Proctor did surrender to sin and commit adultery; however, he lacks the capacity to exonerate himself.

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

Even the best of us have at least one weakness; such as being a doormat, or not always being completely honest with people. That is exactly what happened in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. Lies and fear are what fueled the fiery events that led to the tragedies of the Salem Witch Trials. These were also the fatal flaws of the three characters – Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and Tituba – that caused the trials of Salem, unnecessary arrests, and deaths of numerous innocent people.

“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.

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.