Have you ever had a finger pointed at you unfairly? If so, how would that feel? Despite being a country that has fairness and justice as core values, the United States has been and is currently a neutral witness to such events, which has caused irreparable damage. When these events have occurred in the U.S., the targets were usually a certain group of people who were highly feared in society. Targeting a group in this manner was known as a “witch hunt.” In Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, he discusses how a small suspicion of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts during colonial times ultimately escalated to hysteria and destruction of innocent life. While the Salem Witch Trials were the most quintessential example of a “witch hunt”, similar instances sadly reappeared in different forms during the 20th century. To comprehend how modern events parallel witch hunts of more than 300 years ago, it is important to first examine the main events in The Crucible, which captured the first such significant event on U.S. soil. Miller’s play starts out with a physician who attempts to save 2 ill-feeling girls, Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam. When the doctors tell Betty’s father, Reverend Parris, via Susanna Walcott that she appeared to be fine, Walcott says “But he [the doctor] bid me tell you, that you might look to unnatural things for the cause of it” (9). Here, the doctors resorted directly to witchcraft instead of looking into the fact that Betty could have been traumatized by
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 fuel of “witch-hunts” is continued hysteria. This occurs because everyone is afraid of coming out against the absurdity of the hunt. In Miller’s Salem, to question reports of witchcraft was to be suspected of doubting the Bible or even serving the devil. In the 1950’s miller was inspired to write the Crucible, because many liberals had been paralysed by the fear of being identified as communist. In the essay-Why I Wrote the Crucible- Miller explains his motivation: “By 1950, when I began to think of writing about the hunt for Reds in America, I was motivated in some great part by the paralysis that had set in among many liberals who, despite their discomfort with the inquisitors violations of civil rights, were fearful of being identified as covert Communists if they should protest too strongly.” (MILLER 2) Miller wanted his play to help people realise just how dangerous and absurd it was to allow society to harm others in fear of ourselves being harmed. In modern times, this would mean for us to stand up against authority when individuals- of certain cultures, backgrounds, or races- are
In Massachusetts during the late 1600’s, a series of prosecutions accusing people of witchcraft was a prominent event known as the Witch Trials (Salem witch trials, Wikepedia.com). As a result, many literature pieces, books, and poems were written based on the Witch Trials in Salem particularly, like Arthur Miller’s novel, The Crucible. The Crucible is well known for its incorporation of the Puritan community, making it an extensive novel, as noted by Susan Abbotson, an author who critiqued Miller’s work. Ms. Abbotson notes that much of the story is spent outside the courtroom and in the society as a whole. Consequently, her remark founded the discussion about the idea of power- hungry characters and corruption in The Crucible. In The Crucible
The purpose of my paper is to compare and contrast Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with the actual witch trials that took place in Salem in the 17th Century. Although many of the characters and events in the play were non-fictional, many details were changed by the playwright to add intrigue to the story. While there isn’t one specific cause or event that led to the Salem witch trials, it was a combination of events and factors that contributed to the birth and growth of the trials. Some of these events included: a small pox outbreak that was happening at the time, the revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Colony charter by Charles II, and the constant fear of Native attacks. These helped in creating anxiety among the early Puritans that
Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, is wonderful example of how mass hysteria can spread throughout a small community. The setting of the play is Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 during the infamous Witch Trials. Miller uses these trials and the way they impacted the Salem community as a parallel to the Red Scare of the 1950s. Both time periods show the effect corrupt authorities can have on the lives of others. The author’s most striking commentary is on the role
Many people are aware of the witch hunt that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692, however these same people may not be as familiar with the other witch hunt that also occurred in New England during the same year. Escaping Salem: the other witch hunt of 1692, written by Richard Godbeer, is a historical monograph that reconstructs the, mostly unheard-of witch hunt, that occurred in Stamford, Connecticut. The book also gives its readers insight into the minds of early American citizens. Thus, the theme of Escaping Salem, beside witchcraft, is human nature and Richard Godbeer’s thesis is that humans demonize others before recognizing their own share of human frailty. It is evident that he is biased toward the witches and sympathizes with them. This, of course, is not surprising since they were irrationally punished because of their neighbours unsubstantiated accusations. Richard Godbeer is currently a Professor of History at the University of Miami, who offers courses on a broad range of topics, including sex and gender in early America, witchcraft in colonial New England, religious culture in early America, and the American Revolution. He is also the author of 11 other historical monographs.
The Crucible is a play, which explores the witch- hunting hysteria that happened in Salem 1692. Miller uses this “organized mass-hysteria”[1] to comment on his own similar experience during the 1950s. Through “The Crucible”, Miller is able to draw an analogy between the hysteria of the Salem witch-trails and its modern parallel of the anti communist ‘witch-hunts’ which occurred due to the HUAC-House of un-American Committee, which were lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy; who with the help of the committee were “ruthlessly determined to hunt out communists as the Salem judges had been to hunt out witches”[2]. Miller used “The Crucible” to criticise this unmitigated
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.
Late 1500’s, a world where witch craft was believable, so much where death to many people, was a big part of the American society. Arthur Millers, The Crucible, brings out the fight between Salem’s witch trials and starting the up rise of McCarthyism or the Red Scare in America’s history in the early 1950’s.
“Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,” said George Santayana. If this is true, then why have we continued to repeat something like the Salem Witch Trials on more than one occasion, including the recent uproar of sexual assault accusations? Although The Crucible and modern day accusations of sexual assault differ in the ways that these assault accusations are in modern times and they are also on something that is not related to religious beliefs, they ultimately have more in common, like how evidence was and is shaky for some cases, all accusations were started by a domino effect, and reputations were ultimately ruined even if the accused were proven innocent eventually.
The idea of witchcraft seems preposterous now, but it pulled me into its issues with its bony hands. The renowned play and film The Crucible, by eminent author Arthur Miller, is a great tale of deceit, religious persecution, justice/injustice and paranoia, which shows the ignorance and the perplexing nature of the 17th Century Puritan society. The mysterious world of witchcraft and witch hunts is the centrepiece of this story, which parallels to the Senator Joseph McCarthy communist ‘witch hunts’ in the 1950s. Similarly, I can create a link to contemporary issues in society, whether it takes place in the school playground or politics. As we can all recall, abusive power was a severe problem in the villages of Salem. It afflicted on a person’s ideologies and how they were represented and symbolised by others. My curiosity is conveyed through Abigail. This protagonist is seen as inhumanly diabolical, as she does not express any remorse, via the motif of manipulation and accusations. This is all refracted through the lenses of my own attitudes, values and beliefs of an egalitarian society. So today I am here to explain and engage with you why I entirely believe this story, from many years ago, can reproduce the same apprehensions of abusive power in society today.
Imagine spontaneously receiving an arrest warrant on allegations of anti-government campaigns. It would be especially startling for an upholding, law abiding citizen because his or her cooperation generally implies support of the government and its actions. Unfortunately, claims like this played a tremendous role in driving legal controversies throughout history. Playwright Arthur Miller’s The Crucible provides a partially fictional narrative regarding one such legal controversy - the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. When several girls are caught apparently dancing in the forest, they fabricate that witchcraft has taken over the town. The girls thrive in their newfound power, and pioneer an era of madness, fear, and betrayal in Salem through the witch trials. In the witch trials, Miller highlights the contrasting roles that Danforth’s obstinance and Rebecca Nurse's virtuosity play to demonstrate that obedience, although universally advertized as ameliorating life, fails to meet its hype.
These days, dressing up like a witch for Halloween is very normal. The year was 1962 when Salem Massachusetts was forever cemented in history because of the Salem witch trials. People accused of witch craft were imprisoned or hung and in one occasion a person was pressed to death. I can only imagine what the people of Salem were going through those days. There was a fear in the entire town because you couldn’t trust anyone. It became neighbor against neighbor as the small town was torn apart and people didn’t know who to trust. One of the most important persons from these times was Cotton Mather. He was an accomplished author, researcher, and preacher who worker under his father at Boston’s North Church. In “From the Wonders of the Invisible World” Mather writes about the Salem Witch Trials and what happened when some people recanted their testimony of being witches.
I need help. Salem is infested with witches! This whole town is too scared to do anything. People are keeping their children inside. They are throwing accusations everywhere.
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.