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Fallacy In The Crucible

Decent Essays

Arthur Miller, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of The Crucible, uses words to feel and convey the feelings created by characters and events in his novels. Witchcraft was the fulfilling lies of the courtroom authority, and separated the Puritan society. He enhances his message of overwhelming authority with such a plethora of literary devices such as hyperbole, irony, and fallacy to explain and demonstrate the abusing of power throughout The Crucible. In Act I, page 175, it is said, “Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you.” This quote occurs when accusations began and Abigail was beginning her long, tedious, process in abusing her power to manipulate the girls into lying for the sake of her reputation. Abigail is aware that she and her friends have committed a serious offense by dancing without clothes, and threatens the girls to lie about what truthfully happened that night in the woods. Abigail’s controlling and abusive mindset gets the best of her and leads her into a tricky situation within the court, and ends her trickery by moving to Boston. Her power and her ability to manipulate the people around her allowed her exploitation of not only the people, but the town as a whole. Furthermore, she goes on to say, "I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin' out! I have been near to murdered every

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