The Importance Of Intolerance Of Puritans In The Crucible

In a famous poem by Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” he writes: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--/I took the one less traveled by, /And that has made all the difference.” Some people may argue that the roads less traveled are the ones taken by nonconformists while the easier, more traveled roads are taken by conformists. The metaphor of Robert Frost’s poem can be seen in Arthur Miller’s play about the Salem witchcraft trials, “The Crucible.” In the play the reader is introduced to characters that are non-conformist and other characters that are conformist. Through the actions taken by these characters, the reader can conclude that conformity is either a good thing or a bad thing.

However its creation of a single mindset is certainly questionable. For instance, the "other" of Puritan society is not represented. What is to be said of the dispossessed, the minorities of all types, the non-Puritans, and women in Miller's recounting of Puritan thought? Miller omits them from his account. One suspects that including their perspectives might have altered Miller's account. His concept of Puritanism was essentially the same one that was offered by the elites of early New England. Nonetheless this work, though intellectually demanding, represents a seminal statement in American, if not Christian, historiography and is worth of consideration for students of history, including American, Christian and religious

Intolerance is an action that was a major part of puritan society, and is still encountered in our modern world. Ironically, intolerance is a often a result of religious expectations and differing opinions. In both the Puritan society of Salem and the modern world, intolerance results from between those who strongly follow a religion, and others who differ. Since religions contain a variety of ideas and beliefs that are regarded so highly, religious members tend to become intolerant to varying beliefs and behaviors. Even those in Puritan culture who were not necessarily a religious leader, but still held high authority, made intolerant claims. Puritans related everything to God

A theme that is prevalent in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is intolerance. In the play, intolerance can be seen acted out by the people of Salem, as anyone who does anything that goes against Puritarian beliefs is accused of being a witch. Minute abnormal behavior by some people is reported and is enough to lead them to be imprisoned. Intolerance is depicted throughout the play and can even be seen to in our own society. We have issues of Black rights, the LGBTQIA, deporting Mexicans, and banning Muslims, that bring to light the intolerance our society holds.

The definition of the word martyr as defined by Merriam-Webster is “a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion.” When many people think of a martyr their first instinct in their mind is not to think of witchcraft and the town of Salem. The play written by Arthur Miller titled “The Crucible” is based on real events that correlate with this definition. “The Crucible” depicts the 1692 Salem Witch Trials that transformed the town of Salem into hysteria. The start of the trials began way before Abigail Williams accused one of the townspeople of witchcraft, but when many girls were caught dancing and singing in the woods. The trials continued for less than a year but over 200 people were accused. With the breakout of hysteria and intolerance the town everyone seemed to turn on eachother. Giles Corey embodied the theme of the play “The Crucible” by being intolerant and going against the others, eventually costing him his life.

Theological and humanistic forms of thought have been used long before the first Pilgrims set foot in the Americas. These forms of religious verses nonreligious thoughts have shaped the literature of the early Puritans. The sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, the novel, The Scarlet Letter, and the play, The Crucible, all represented the reoccurring theme of perfection, through the way in which the people must live in order to maintain the standards placed upon them by society. The people of this time were too busy shaming others for their sins, when little did they know that they were just as much a sinners as the accused.

America was and still remains an ideological experiment. This ongoing experiment-the basic foundation for American society today-began with the settlement of the Puritans (1628-1630) at Massachusetts Bay in 1630. From the very beginning the Puritans had a plan, this plan was to create an exemplary society based on their beliefs of individualism and democracy “for the world to see”. However, in order to understand Puritan society one must note that reality and belief hold two very different meanings. A belief is a state of mind in which trust and confidence is placed in an idea or thing. While reality is a fact about the living moment past, present or future. This idea is important because the Puritans lived a life of constant struggle between reality and belief. They believed in the notions of individualism and democracy. Yet, in reality these notions posed as the largest threats to their society.

Puritan ideology had a profound effect upon early America. Though they came to the New World mainly for religious freedom after attempting to ‘purify’ the Church of England, they left an impact beyond just the spiritual as many men of the Puritan faith helped shape the young country. This obviously led to the Puritan’s having a dramatic effect on the literature The whole life of a Puritan was dedicated to God, as He was the only one who could offer salvation from eternal damnation. They believed that humans are sinners incapable of earning God’s merit on their own, and for that reason they observed strict moral codes in order to ensure that they may receive God’s grace. This central idea, God’s long withstanding mercy, a central idea reflected in many of the early writings of America

The Puritans were a group of people who were set out to get away from the British colony. They came into America to start a new life set apart from their past experiences in a monarch society. Their intentions were to purify the churches of England of their Catholic way. They are a group who worship the Bible. They expect all other Puritans to know their Ten Commandments. They are one of the first groups to inhabit America. The first actual people were the Native Americans and then the Pilgrims.

“It will pay us to keep an open mind to the possibilities that we have been seriously mislead regarding the Puritans.” That being said, it is obvious to anyone who has a genuine understanding of the Puritans, to know that they were not a group of individuals who opposed sex, education, and money. In fact, they relied heavily on their individual liberates. Despite the fact that, it is generally accepted by most, that the Puritans were an inundating society. This is merely a hasty generalization. That being said, Leland Ryken does an outstanding job of explaining the Puritan’s true motives during their duration in history. Regardless of how outsiders viewed and treated the Puritans, they accomplished remarkable deeds and did not stray from their

Although intolerance could be seen as distant, it occurs in our present days, as when people are intolerant towards Muslim groups in the USA. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is set in the remote 17th century; however, the themes presented in the play are certainly not so archaic as they are reflected in present events of Islamophobia, particularly after the Paris attacks of 2015. One of the themes is, as mentioned above, intolerance, which means an unwillingness to accept the beliefs or behavior of someone different. In The Crucible, the population had to comply with social and moral rules: those who were considered a threat to the common good of the town and the rules of God suffered horrible fates. The play could be considered as being against

Puritans may have tried to give themselves the appearance of a perfect society, but it was really just as corrupt and full of sinners as any society today. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet, there is evidence for this. In Puritan literature, although they try to hide it, sin is very common, in that Puritans do the opposite of what they preach, but still harshly punish those who sin.

Religion has been known to show hypocrisy in the present and pass. The Puritan society alone is a lesson in hypocrisy throughout The Scarlet Letter. The Puritans were displayed as firm believers in the Bible, but they did not stick to two things the Bible advocates: forgiveness and tolerance. The society’s basis was

As famously written by George Orwell, “Big Brother is watching you.” In the eyes of the Puritans, God is the “Big Brother” watching over them in their mission to become the “city upon a hill.” They devote themselves to pleasing Him, eventually becoming obsessed with their status as the paragon of a Puritan society. However, as their ideologies become increasingly restrictive, their tolerance of misconduct decreases, and their utmost faithfulness ultimately leads to their untimely destruction. While John Winthrop, the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, delivers “A Model of Christian Charity,” laying out the societal expectations of Puritans, Jonathan Edwards in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” aggressively warns the Puritans

“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.” -Robert F. Kennedy. Puritan societies are a prime example of the traits of extremism as Puritan societies not only have zero tolerance of others who do not share their same religion, but they also have a distrust within their own communities due to the accumulated anxiety of not knowing whether their efforts have an effect on their lifestyle. Looking to history for examples to run a community, groups are trying to implement the Puritan society to implement the benefits such as: A hard work ethic, dedication, loyalty, and a hierarchy that each gives onto another in an equivalent exchange. With these notions to revive those ethics in order to fully inhibit these benefits, there must be adequate analysis whether the implementation of Puritan ideals truly benefit communities or if the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.The implementation of Puritan ideals into a society, however, do not publish good results as the products of such are uncertainty, conformity, and extremism.