The Crucible Rhetorical Analysis

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a one of a kind, outstanding play that remains relevant from the 1950’s through today. The Crucible depicts life in the 1600s during the Salem witch trials. Arthur Miller crafts an intricately layered story with many points of view from a variety of characters. Although the story takes place in 1692 the lessons and values taught have importance in our society today. One of the lessons highlighted in The Crucible is how ignorance can affect communities and even have catastrophic results that may last many years or completely change the dynamic of an era.

The unjust execution of 19 innocent people. This was the result of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft. The play The Crucible depicts this incident as it closely happened in real life. One character in this play, Judge Danforth, was the judge of the trials who believed that these accusations of witchcraft were true, and order the executions of those 19 innocent people. Throughout his presence in the play, he convinces the people of Salem that what he believes in is correct, and that justice should be delivered to those who have sinned with the Devil. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Judge Danforth employs assertive diction, an aggressive tone, and utilization of ethos to

Miller uses Tituba and Reverend Hale to exemplify how burdens from society urge one to make erroneous decisions through his use of situational irony throughout the play. For example, in the beginning, Reverend Hale has a strong view that witchcraft should not be looked upon as the first thing that ails a child, yet he accuses Tituba of inflicting Betty when he says, “you most certainly do (have power over Betty), and you will free her from it now! When did you compact with the devil?” (Miller I. 40). Though Hale has a strong belief in the beginning, the constant strain from those around him lead to him losing sight of what is truly righteous; he eventually gives into the pressures, all in all

One’s words and method of expression can determine one’s fate in certain situations. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, characters are required to testify for their lives in the corrupt Salem witch trials. A particularly strong rhetorician is Deputy Governor Danforth, who has a position in the hierarchy of the Salem Court in determining whether the convicted witches are guilty. Danforth’s goal is to find the truth, and he resolutely understands that his verdicts so far are of the true. In defense of his truths, Governor Danforth uses rhetorical devices in his language in order to demonstrate the severity of his decisions thus far.

Sometimes one can never realize that what they are doing is wrong, at least until the consequences are revealed to them in the end. A happy ending does not always have to have a good event such as a marriage or happy-ever-after but it can be considered a good ending when a character or characters has gone through moral development. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos and anaphora to provide moral reconciliation for John and Elizabeth Proctor, revealing the consequences through one's actions can spark a realization of wrongdoing.

Rhetorical appeals reveals the hidden message the character is trying to convey. The language also highlights the characters emotions, feelings and the significance of the text. It allows readers to gain a better understanding of the characters. Arthur Miller, an American essayist, who wrote a variety of amazing plays. One of his famous plays, The Crucible, highlights the importance of rhetorical appeals throughout the play. John Proctor, the tragic hero is a loyal, honest, and kind-hearted individual. Proctor uses strong rhetorical appeals to highlight his emotions and his message. Proctor values his reputation and name. Proctor accuses Abigail Williams of witchcraft. The famous play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller explores Proctors speaking

What is the crucible, a chaotic story, a perfectly planned our plan, or something more? Reason for this is because everyone gets all riled up, characters in the novel and the people reading the novel. The writer, Arthur Miller, uses a plentiful amount of rhetorical analysis to give this story a spice. Arthur Miller uses the rhetorical strategies, logos, ethos, and pathos to create an overall theme of controlled chaos.

Ad Hominem: Latin for “against the man,” and refers to the logical fallacy (error) of arguing that someone is incorrect because they are unattractive, immoral, weird, or any other bad thing you could say about them as a person. (https://literaryterms.net/ad-hominem/)

The world-famous and highly influential play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written in an effort to make the public aware of one of the most awful chapters in history, and the goal of the author was to use the characters and events as a vehicle to communicate the moral lessons that should be learned from these examples of flawed human behavior. Various themes and motifs that illustrate important morals are explored extensively throughout the play. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is indeed considered a great piece of literary art and does inevitably give moral instruction through the author’s use of the

As an unseen instigator of the movement against false confession during the trials of Salem, John Proctor shows a great deal of Integrity, ripping up the confession. This action is crucial to the events in the play and a running theme throughout. “Hysterically, as if the tearing paper were his life” both Parris and Hale plead with Proctor “Man you will hang.”. In the same way, Arthur Miller acts with integrity during his own trial, suggesting that that aspects of his own character have been translated in John Proctor. This reoccurring feature of drama, the effects of individual versus society, may also be identified as a reoccurring situation in society. That John Proctor’s life-affirming choice should lead to death is the greatest irony of the play, and yet another example of injustice in our society.

The Crucible presents itself as one of the most controversial books of all time, seeing as its written by a man who got not just accused of communism, but asked by the FBI to change one of his screenplays because he got wrapped up the ‘witch hunt’ of his time. This books written not only to convey the messages and important lesson from the Salem Trials, but to also draw parallels to the modern events in the lives of the audience. Arthur Miller came up with the richly significant name of his book by sampling bits from linguistic, scientific, and biblical definitions of the word “crucible.”

Although the court and church questioned Abigail's honesty and motives, Abigail uses her lies to conceal her faults and gain authority. Therefore; she has the potential to manipulate people for her own selfish gains like clearing her reputation and winning John Proctor.

In Arthur Miller’s short play The Crucible, one is swept on a world pool of adventures through the rampant society of the Puritans. As the plot begins to unfold, the reader is able to detect a shift in the society as the fear of witches living amongst the community compounds tensions already formed. Tension occurs in various occasions throughout the play such as neighbors arguing over one another for land, Abigail’s group of followers foreshadowing her every move and following through with her surplus demands, or even Abigail sparking the commonality of lying about seeing people with the devil. On numerous accounts one can see characters such as Abigail, Proctor, and Putnam disregard the outcomes that stem from their actions and the punishments endured by others as a result. It is evident that the effect of one’s actions on another is irrelevant and discarded when attempting to escape a problem prevalent within one’s life.

In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller reveals his purpose through the characters. Miller’s characters send a clear message and warning to the audience that the cause of Salem’s “falling apart” is due to a loss of the “individual conscience.” It is indisputable that Reverend Parris stands out as the character who most recklessly disregards his moral conscience, which ultimately impacts the outcome of the play.

It’s always on the edge of our minds that behind what we see is a nefarious plot” (Navasky). His theory suggests that the events in Salem, Massachusetts were nothing more than the product of an intrinsic paranoia regarding the unknown and inexplicable as well as the idea that even seemingly innocuous actions are never truly as harmless as they appear. Miller manipulates these feelings of hysteria in his play, illustrating clearly the people’s obsessions with proving the unlawful deeds the condemned had supposedly