"The Crucible" and "To Kill a Mockingbird": Compare the ways in which the two authors express THEMES of Power, Authority, Justice and Oppression.

A crucible is a container which is heated to separate impurities mainly from metals and sometimes other substances. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, takes place in a quiet Massachusetts town known as Salem. Rumors of witchcraft, however have unfortunately left the townspeople susceptible to blame one another. A quiet town virtually turned in a mad haven for blame, revenge, and dark satisfaction overnight. The reader witnesses all of these events unfold as they delve into the story of The Crucible and reveal how revenge reveals the motives of many characters.

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

Arthur Miller wrote the play, The Crucible, in 1952 and the movie in 1996. The story is historical fiction depicting the Salem witch trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692-1693. The movie and the play have obvious differences, however the movie does not stray too far from the original play. The main character, Abigail, in an attempt to steal the love of John Proctor, weaves a web of lies and leads the community to believe that there are witches among them. Ultimately this leads to the trials and hangings of several good people in the village, including John Proctor. The main differences between the movie and play are displayed in plot, setting, and characterization.

Bigsby, Christopher. "The Crucible." Drama Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 31, Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/H1420082430/LitRC?u=wylrc_wyomingst&sid=LitRC&xid=2bd5b992. Accessed 31 Jan. 2018. Originally published in Arthur Miller: A Critical Study, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 147-171.

“The Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller are two pieces of literature written around the same era. They were written in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of the pieces of literature have many similarities including the theme, setting, conflicts, and some major plot elements. But the two pieces of literature are also very different. They both use have a common theme but are completely different stories. Each of the plays tell a different portrayal of the effects of sin on the protagonist, how they deal with the situation, and also how they will be effected by their choices made throughout the play.

The Crucible, a play written in 1953 by arthur miller was written to be a fictional and dramatized version of the salem witch trials in massachusetts 1692. The book teaches about how greed, narcissism, and selfishness can corrupt people and spread throughout a community. In the play the actions of all of the characters shows how easily a person or a group of people can start a series of occurrences causing an event that can generate the death of 20 people.

The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible are two stories both set in the early days of the Massachusetts colony. Both of these stories have many similarities between them, including setting, situations, and conflict. The two stories were also very different. The effects of sin on the characters, how they deal with their sin, and the consequences of their actions are different in each story. The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter are different works and although they deal with similar conflicts the consequences and end results are very different.

During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, America acted out of fear instead of their head. Author Miller motivated to write The Crucible due to his being alive during the late 1950’s when McCarthyism was prevalent in the U.S. He was trying to make the comparison of the two-time periods. Author Miller wrote The Crucible to point out the hysteria caused by the Red Scare by drawing comparisons with fear fueling hysteria, the ignoring of evidence, and types of people who were falsely accused.

The Crucible and Half Hanged Mary were written and based off of the Salem Witch trials. The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were a mistake and compensated the families of those convicted. This is similar to today in that today, people are being accused of things they haven’t done just because they look a certain way or are similar to the people who actually did something bad. Being falsely accused of something can send people into hysterics and send them into a downward spiral. While both Atwood and Miller both seek to reveal the injustices incurred by the victims of the Salem witch trials, Miller focuses on the effects of hysteria and religious zealotry on society, while Atwood aims to commemorate the excruciating experience of a single victim.

The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter have several commodities in common. A basic summary of The Crucible is, it’s about a village, Salem, in the 1600’s, wherein witchery is loose and several conflicted souls must be captured, purified, confessed, or hung. The attempt to dispose of all witchcraft was tampered with by citizens of Salem being dishonest and deceitful. Lots of the deception stemmed from the jealousy, vengeance, and other personal vendettas. The Scarlet Letter summarized is that it is about a woman who had an affair, in the 1600’s, and must be condemned for it. While the husband is torturing the man his wife had an affair with. It included lots of death and suffering. With these two texts being summarized, there are lots of

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

Arthur Miller's purpose of writing The Crucible was to show the parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare of 1950s. He wants to convey the message that in times of great stress and misunderstanding, people will resort to desperate measures to convince both themselves and the people around them that nothing is wrong. People will also resort to lies and manipulation in order to keep themselves sane in times of despair. Miller uses diction, juxtaposition, and symbolism to perfectly encompasses all of these themes for his audience of people who have ever been unequally persecuted by an unfair authoritative power. The first rhetorical strategy Miler uses is his diction.

The prejudice seen in the fictional novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee corresponds with the real narrow-mindedness during this time period. A fair trial would be unlikely during this time period between a white and a black man. Tom Robinson was presumed guilty because of his race.

In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson, the black man falsely convicted of rape, had absolutely no chance of a fair trial. There is proof of this in the time period in which it occurred as well as evidence from the novel itself. Tom Robinson had an unfair trial because it was his word against the Ewell’s, a white, trashy family.

The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. It is based off of the 1662 Salem witch trials written as a parallel between this time period and the Red Scare, the time period in which he was living. There are many topics explored throughout the play, but the most important is hypocrisy, which can be seen in several characters.