Similarities Between The Crucible And On The Waterfront

The Salem witch trials was a story of envy, lies, and the danger of the people. Others wouldn’t defend those accused, and if they did, they themselves were eventually charged as witches. In many ways, defending others was condemning yourself. Such was the case for John Proctor in “The Crucible”. John Proctor was someone who had made mistakes, but through his own crucible made peace with himself and defended the honor of himself and the others that would not admit to witchcraft.

The Crucible is a play that is based on a true story by Arthur Miller.

The Crucible and The Great Gatsby have each been read by millions. Both have factors of love and death, which make them exciting. Abigail Williams and Gatsby are two characters who are very similar, but different at the same time.

The literary works, The Scarlet Letter, a romantic work of an American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the Crucible, a play written by an American playwright, Arthur Miller both show two different narratives of the Salem Witch Trials. The Scarlet Letter is mainly on adultery, meanwhile, The Crucible is about witchcraft. Amongst these two literary works, there are several similarities and contrasts: setting, sin, reasons behind committing the misdemeanor, guilt, and loyalty of the Puritan people to their appointed officials. Although there are several similarities and comparisons, the greatest controversy is how the authors portray the female characters. Women get treated differently than men; it is the idea of women being inferior creatures and lesser human beings.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an iconic piece of literature that was published in the 1950’s. When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, the United States was in the middle of the McCarthyism era where innocent people were being accused of treason without the proper evidence (“Joseph R. McCarthy”). As a result, Arthur Miller became involved and wrote a play to show his beliefs in response to the accusations and haywire going on. Miller used individual characters and portrayed them as a part of his protest. The Crucible was published as a play and made a film. The two are similar, but differences do occur. The play represents these characters with more historical accuracy and believability than the film because individually, the characters

“It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently” (Warren Buffett). Arthur Miller was a well known American playwright, essayist and a very important figure in the American theater. Arthur wrote some very important plays throughout his life and The Crucible was one of them. The Crucible is a very well written play about the Salem Witch Trials and how the people chose their own reputation rather than telling the truth and having a consequence for it. Having a good reputation in a small town like Salem is very crucial. This is evident throughout the acts in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. John Proctor,

When Miller came across Proctor in his studies of Salem, it became evident that the two had much in common. For example, they both had unstable relationships with their three wives (InfoTrac/Answers.com/None Without Sin). “Moving crabwise across the profusion of evidence,” Miller says in his article Why I Wrote The Crucible, “I sensed that I had at last found something of myself in it, and a play began to accumulate around this man.”

Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, and the movie with the same name have many differences and similarities, all of which contribute to the individual effectiveness of each in conveying their central message.

In the book, John Proctor says, “I speak my own sins, I cannot judge another.” (Act IV pg. 141). In this quote, John Proctor refuses to condemn others as witches. He states that he can only speak for himself, and cannot judge another. Just like in The Crucible, people (including Miller) were accused of being communists, without any substantial evidence. Many of the accused confessed others as being communists, yet there were a few who refused to give out other names. In both the Red Scare and The Crucible, those who refused to give names of others’ faced punishment. This is an obvious illustration of the similarities in both The Crucible and the during the Red Scare in Miller’s life.

In the play, Arthur Miller wrote called, The Crucible John Proctor says "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 143). He had a very strong belief that if his name was blackened there is no reason to live. John Proctor also chose to die because he could not double cross his friends, the fact that he has three children, John could not raise his children to walk like men in the world if he himself was not a true man. Therefore, for the sake of his name, reputation, and his kids John's decision to die was a heroic one.

The two texts, On the Waterfront directed by Elia Kazan, and The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, both exhibit a protagonist that is plagued by their sins and desperately seeks redemption. Through Terry Malloy’s life on the Hoboken waterfront of 1950’s America, and John Proctor’s in the Puritan society of 1962 Salem, it is clear that the act of expiating our wrongs is demanding and difficult but finally satisfying. Both texts show similarities but also differences in how the characters have sinned and betrayed their conscience and loved ones. The taxing journey of redemption is full of obstacles in which each texts’ protagonist deals with in their own unique but alike manner. Despite these unavoidable hardships, both Proctor and Malloy ultimately receive their desired redemption and gratifying outcomes. Thus, both texts show how life’s uncertainties, confusions and wrongdoings should be dealt with humanity and a clear conscience instead of fulfilling individual needs.

He accomplishes this through the tone and style the characters use when articulating about their name and reputation throughout the play. For example, the selfish John Proctor demands to his wife, Elizabeth, as she questions his honesty to her, “Woman. I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (Miller 1271). This proves that the moment someone attempts to belittle him, he uses his name to stop it by saying the person has no right to speak of him in such a way because of all he has done. Proctors use of authority and force towards his hardworking wife, just for questioning his name, upsets the audience. By causing the audience to react in this way, they become emotionally involved in Miller’s argument that people of Salem depend solely on their very own reputation. Correspondingly, Proctor exclaims as the court tries to post his confession to witchcraft on the church door, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on my feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (Miller 1333). All the exclamation points and the emotional description of Proctor’s upcoming execution instigates people’s sensitive side. The readers cannot help but to act sympathetic towards Proctor at this time due to the fact that Arthur Miller’s claim, that

The Crucible was written in the 1950’s, at a time when many people were McCarthyists. McCarthyism was a belief that the United States should be purified of all people who were involved with Communism. Anyone who was suspected of being communistic could have been arrested. Miller wrote The Crucible at this time to show the American people the ignorance of their acts. The Americans in the 1950’s were behaving almost exactly like the 17th century townspeople in The Crucible. Miller made his point by demonstrating to the Americans the absurdity of their actions using the ridiculous witch-hunts. One difference between Proctor and Dimmesdale is that while Proctor’s actions were purely lustful, Dimmesdale and Hester committed their sin because they were in love. At the time that Proctor had committed adultery, his wife had been sick. He had sex with Abigail Williams entirely out of lust. Hester had never loved her husband, so Dimmesdale was the only love

In the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the character John Proctor will not lie and confess to something he did not do. Thus, he is hanged for his principles. Proctor has two main principles he felt were more important to respect and uphold than his own life. The most obvious one was his reputation. In theocratic Salem, where private and public ethics are regarded equally, one’s reputation plays an important role. In such an environment where reputation is regarded so highly many are afraid of guilt by association. Various characters base their actions on the desire to protect their own reputations, in order to keep them in the best light possible. Towards the beginning of the play, John Proctor sought to keep his good name

In The Crucible, Miller too created a character that would stand against authority; John Proctor. When Proctor is questioned as to why he has not been to church in so long, he admits that he has ill feelings towards Parris and the way that Parris gives sermons. Proctor does not like authority, and since Parris talks as though he is an authority figure, Proctor has an issue with this. Proctor is very critical over representatives of authority. Proctor changes from a timid character held in bondage by his sin, to a strong, righteous man who will die for the truth. This drastic change in his character is the basis of his significance to the outcome of the play. When faced with the prospect of either confessing to something he didn’t do, or dying, he tells judge Danforth that he cannot have his confession and name nailed to the church door because it would betray his friends who have already died for the truth. When Danforth refutes this, John says, “Beguile me not! I blacken all of them when this is nailed to the church the very day they hang for silence!” (143). Proctor seizes the power back from those who are misusing it, simply by refusing to be a part of the false confessions. The unyielding faith of Proctor’s wife, the influence of the people who share his beliefs and his triumph over an inner struggle help him make a decision that he believes will finally set him free from his past.