The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Self-preservation is the act of protecting one’s self. It is often correlated with pain and fear and it is regarded as a basic human instinct. People often use self-preservation to protect their image and reputation in society, thus potentially having to lie and hurt someone else’s status in the process. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many characters demonstrate self-preservation to avoid the consequences of their own actions. This results in prolonging the witch trials in the town of Salem, causing the destruction of the community.

With all that is going on in the world today, what is more important to you freedom or Safety? In The Crucible, Abigale choose her own safety over hers of her friends and family, and in Fahrenheit 451, Guy choose his freedom over the safety of him and his wife and, in Berlin you either live on West Berlin were you were free or you lived on the other side of the wall where you had no freedom but you were safe. So which side of the wall do you want to live on?

The Crucible, a novel/play by Arthur Miller displays the chaos of the witch trials within the small town of Salem, Mass. Of the many characters of the novel, John Proctor and Mary Warren are both characters that serve an importance to the novel. The two characters both interact in the stories in different ways. Even though both characters can be seen as minor characters because of their inferior power in the novel, Proctor and Mary Warren serve as important characters to the story line. One reason being the fact that they both bring about problems with and/or against antagonist Abigail Williams such as Mary Warren, who likes the feeling of have authority but gets into unwanted conflict often, and Proctor, who is an very aggressive person

Page 1 of 3Hai Nguyen John Proctor and the McCarthyism “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller illustrates the reflection of the anti-communist hysteria in the United States known as McCarthyism. Miller uses the character John Proctor as a force in demonstrating the way lives were destroyed by McCarthyism. Throughout the story, while Proctor is respected in the community, he has conflict secretly with many people as well as himself. John Proctor is a perfect character because the readers are able to view him as a victim in the society where McCarthyism took place. He is also an adulterer, husband of Elizabeth, and knows what is happening in and outside of the Salem society. Proctor was having a conflict with his wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth did not trust John because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth was supposed to trust John, but she refused to because he said he was alone with Abigail for a moment. John cannot say or argue against Elizabeth because of his guilt:” Because it speaks deceit, and I am honest! But I will plead no more! I see how your spirit twists around the single error of my life, and I will never tear it free!” Elizabeth tried to make John feel guilt, so John wanted to make sure she understood her cold nature may have prompted his cheating. He also has conflict with Abigail Williams which is his mistress. John Proctor was so angry because Abigail accused his wife to witchcraft. She sent Mary Warren with a puppet that has needle inside its

Most people would not like to be known as a coward. Mary Warren was not aiming for that title, but that is what she ended up with. She gave herself this negative reputation. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play about the undergoing of the Salem Witchcraft Trials in 1692. A group of Salems girls, are caught dancing in the woods. To take allegation off of themselves, they accuse other innocent townspeople of practicing witchcraft. Multiple victims are murdered or imprisoned. Mary Warren, one of the accusers, plays a big role in this play. Mary Warren’s character changes from cowardly, to brave, and back to cowardly, throughout the story which shows how she evolved throughout The Crucible.

Arthur Miller has created John Proctor the protagonist of The Crucible to be a 30 year old farmer in Salem, Massachusetts, powerful of body, even-tempered and not easily led. John speaks his mind when he recognizes injustice. He is highly respected, even feared, by some in Salem. His name is synonymous with honour and integrity. He takes pleasure in exposing hypocrisy and is respected for it. However John is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct, he has come to regard himself as a kind of fraud. After admitting to lechery, John is accused of witchcraft, on this charge he is condemned.

Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible show the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Even though this play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on a real historical event which was McCarthyism in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. There’re many connection in The Crucible to be considered as an allegory due to similarities themes and how the characters are being portrayed. Miller does an excellent job of portraying numerals characters used fear for benefit and they showed selfishness and malfeasance. This is also similar to how Joseph McCarthy’s oppressive by using intense fear of the spread of the economic system called communism.

In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the many themes that stands out to most people is the importance of a having a good name and reputation. Miller uses certain characters outcomes in the play to prove that reputation was actually not the biggest concern. He consistently shows that reputation means nothing when it came to being accused during the Salem Witch Trials because many innocent people were killed. People began to use these accusations for their own benefit and that’s when it became chaotic. These random accusations of witchcraft could immediately cause someone’s admirable reputation to disappear. He provides evidence in the play through most characters that we would consider to have a good reputation such as: Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and John Proctor.

According to Arthur Miller, “ . . . witchcraft was to forgo any understanding of how it came to pass that tens of thousands had been murdered as witches in Europe”. While reading The Crucible, we can learn three main ideas about human nature. The Crucible showed that selfishness, scape goats, and reputations. Selfishness surely did not benefit various characters in The Crucible.

Reverend Parris is a minister in the town of Salem. As a very static character, his characteristics, for the most part, remain the same. In the

Reverend Samuel Parris- Parris is a widow in the mid 40’s. Parris is also considered a bad person in Salem. Parris is very greedy and selfish. Reputation is a big priority.

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the author depicts the salem witch trials which occurred from 1692 to 1693, with twenty people total executed for the false accusation of witchcraft. In the play, self righteousness is a common theme among some individuals in Salem. Although many lied and gave up their friends, some, having the chance to live their lives freely without punishment, died in order to preserve their righteousness. One of the main characters, John Proctor, was one who was self righteous. At the end of the play, John was hanged because although he did not have to give up any friends, he wanted to keep his goodness and trusted that God knew the truth.

Lucifer, Satan or his common name, the devil. From an English perspective, he is the first antagonist. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the Devil is the main cause of conflict. He is the root of Evil. Now the reaction to devilish behavior varies from person to person, possibly even society to society. The Puritan society combats evil doing with actions that could be considered worse than the Devil 's worst of deeds. This is demonstrated by Reverend Hale, whose importance starts initially as a figurehead of judgment, and his influence of judgment slowly dwindles. Another proof of imperfection in the Puritan society is the article McCarthyism. It projects the same sickening goose chase that ruins the lives of harmless people. Abigail is the ultimate icon of the mockery that is the Salem witch trials. Her “encounters” with demons in the courtroom are borderline comedic. The puritans justify all decisions with the argument that all drastic measures are necessary to remove the demons within the townspeople, for the greater good.

Throughout this past semester, we have covered a lot of plays and their films that correspond within those plays. While I have learned a lot along the way I have found that there are certain plays that stuck out. Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and The Importance of Being Earnest were among some of these plays from this semester. However, one of my personal favorites is The Crucible. I was able to uncover many themes from this play such as secret sin, lies and deceit, and religion.

Mr. Parris was the first ordained minister of Salem, he was seen as a higher ranked individual by the town and its’ people, they believed that a minister was the closest thing on earth to God. they followed him blindly and faithfully, out of fear of the devil's plan to,” lead them to eternal damnation”, stated Mr. Patrick J. from the nationalgeographic.com, that is still a fear today for many religions. Blind following derives from blind leading, Mr. Parris felt very little of his people, never settling disputes in the town nor having pity on those who did wrong in his eyes. If you did not confine to his rules or his rule, you were stocked and shamed by the townspeople who, afraid of being shunned and left to die alone, followed their minister.