The Role Of Giles Corey In The Crucible

“I will not give you no name.” This quote was said by Giles Corey in The Crucible. He said this when Judge Hathorne asked for a name that Giles promised not to say in court. This caused Giles to be arrested and ultimately killed. Giles Corey and I share some of the same traits such as being cunning, being sarcastic, and being loyal.

Giles feels sorry to his wife of being relate to the witch. On the other hand, Ann Putnam knows that Giles Corey has a big land, which she wants to have his land by telling judge that he is relate to the

Giles explains what he meant by talking about the books and that he never meant to accuse his wife of witchcraft. Giles explains, “It is my third wife, sir; I never had no wife that be so taken with books, and I thought to find the cause of it, d’y’see, but it were no witch I blamed her for. I have broke charity with the woman, I have broke charity with her”(70). Giles makes this claim in hopes of getting his wife out of jail and back home with him. Giles states that he broke her trust in him and he feels completely guilty for his wife’s imprisonment. As Giles talks he mentions that there might still be some form of witchcraft and he had only mentioned the books his wife read because he wanted to help find cause of witchcraft. When Giles speaks to the judge he hopes to redeem himself by getting his wife out of jail. With that, Giles has lost pretty much all belief in witches in Salem, and his only goal now is to make things right so that no more people are hanged.

In the play John Proctor and Giles Corey have several similarities. Proctor and Corey both refuse to sacrifice information that could get them hanged or put and impact on their reputation. Proctor does not want to let the court know that Abigail and the other girls are lying about what happened in the woods, this caused him to get in trouble. Corey refuses to tell the court officials who he overheard say what Putnam made his daughter do, this caused him to get in trouble as well. An alternate subject they have in common is, both of their wives

Hale knows that people will confess to anything to avoid being hanged, and he is deeply troubled when he learns of Abigail’s motifs for revenge. Respected people have told Hale that the trials are non-sense. He has tried to find holes in these people’s reasoning, so he can be reassured he hasn’t made a big mistake in his aiding of the conviction of these people, but their reasoning is completely logical. Hale becomes more aware of the truth near the end of Act II, when Giles Corey and Francis Nurse report that their wives have been taken away. Reverend Hale is surprised, but disturbed by the news because he thought of Rebecca as surely being innocent when he met her. He says that, ‘‘ if Rebecca Nurse be tainted, then nothing’s left to stop the whole greenworld from burning’’ (71). Hale then tries to explain her arrest by saying (in great pain) : ‘‘Man remember, until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven’’ (71).

Mr. Putnam is a very wealthy and influential man in Salem. As a result of him being driven by power and wealth he uses the witch trials to his advantage. In the past, the Nurses and the Putnams have had disputes: “Thomas Putnam’s man for the Salem ministry was Bayley. The Nurse clan had been in the faction that prevented Bayley’s taking office” (Miller 27). Thomas Putnam would have gained power by having his choice for the Salem ministry chosen. He would gain status and the favor of the leader of Salem, but the Nurse family stood in his way. This incident sparked anger in Mr. Putnam against the Nurse family and now he is out for revenge and he is using the trials to get it. Another grudge he has against the Nurses is connected to land: “Another suggestion to explain the systematic campaign against Rebecca, and inferentially against Francis, is the land war he fought with his neighbors, one of whom was a Putnam” (Miller 27). The Putnams have a history of fighting over land with the Nurse family and this gives him a motive to go after them and their land. Putnam’s desire for land and wealth also gives him the motivation to take the land from the Nurse family in any way he can, including blaming them for witchcraft. This dispute is important because it gives motive to the Putnams and shows their determination to get what they want.

The girls at the beginning of the play, avoided punishment by accusing others of the very things they were guilty of themselves. This desperate act of self-preservation resulted in the mass paranoia and atmosphere that gripped Salem for the continuance of the witch trials. By allowing audiences to see how dark desires and hidden agendas subsequentially drive people, Miller explores human motivation and the behaviour that results from it. Ironically, it is desire, sexual, material and physical desire that drives the people of Salem. For example, Abigail, full of desire for Proctor, seizes an opportunity to reverse fate and eliminate Elizabeth Proctor, by accusing her of witch craft. Elizabeth was the only person in Abigail’s eyes that was preventing her from marrying Proctor. In addition, Abigail’s status within the community is elevated and she gains power a young woman of her social status could have only dreamt of. Furthermore, the Putnam’s also seize the opportunity the witch trials create. Putnam has a hidden agenda, namely, land lust and his desire to elevate himself within the

Like others, Corey’s internal conflict is deciding if he believes in witches, or if the whole commotion is just a fabrication. When Corey tells Hale that his third wife reads books in secrecy, he does not mention it because he believes she is connected with the devil, he is just not use to this, due to the fact that none of his other wives showed an interest in reading. One of the external conflicts that Corey faces, is when he begins to question Parris for being so quiet during the horrid witch trials, and wonders if the minister really does praise God, and is curious if he believes in witches or not. Giles Corey is often found motivated to prove that the group of girls claiming to have seen townspeople associating with the devil, are indeed

The first argument between Giles and Putnam is presented when Mr. Putnam first enters the court. The argument is used to prove Putnam prompted his daughter to cry witchery upon George Jacobs who had been put in jail. Giles gives the judge his deposition. The argument is

Giles Corey is a hot-tempered farmer that lives outside of Salem. His wife, Martha Corey, was one of those accused of practicing witchcraft, and was sentenced to death, by hanging. Giles Corey was also sentenced to death by being pressed with stones for contempt of court. Giles Corey was one that had good demonstrations of good character in the story. In the story Giles pronounces “...I heard it from an honest man who heard Putman say it! The day his daughter cried out on Jacobs he said she’d given him a fair gift of land” (Miller, pg. 183), this quote shows that Corey is an honesty person. He then later states after the court asks him for a name “Why I - I cannot give you his name… you know well why not! He’ll lay in jail if i give his name.” (pg 183). This shows

For Giles, he came to action when his wife was charge for witchcraft. This happen because of his wonders about the strange books she reads at night. ''It discomfits me! Last night-mark this- I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book and walks out of the house, and not suddenly -mark this- I could pray again!''(p.155) Corey not realizing what he did. His

Several characters that accused others seemed to have other motifs than to cleanse the town of witchcraft. One, for instance, was Thomas Putnam. Putnam was a wealthy and greedy citizen of Salem. During the play, he accuses people of witchcraft to acquire more land. In the play, Giles Corey states that Putnam told his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. If Jacobs were to hang, the only citizen in Salem wealthy enough to buy his land was Putnam. Giles reported this and when he would not name the man who told him, Danforth arrests him for contempt of court. They torture Giles by placing large stones on his chest, making it hard to breathe, until he confesses. The only words Giles spoke were “more weight”.

As the trials go on, many more accusations are made. Giles Corey accuses Putnam of trying to get other landowners hanged for witchcraft so that he can have their land for himself. Marshall Danforth asks for a source and the person’s name. Giles says that he cannot give out the person’s name. Giles is in the court because his wife, Martha Corey had been arrested and accused of witchcraft. She gave away a pig to a man, and the pig became ill and died shortly after the pig was acquired. Francis Nurse is in the court because his wife, Rebecca Nurse was arrested too. He along with Giles continue to confront Danforth about Putnam’s doing, but Danforth responds with that they will have to put their thoughts into writing

Imagine the year is 1692. In a small Massachusetts town a culture of highly religious folk live in peace. Salem. It´s late January and the reverendś young niece Abigail and only daughter begin to act strangely. Rumors of witchcraft fly through town and fear runs rampant.In around a year 200 people are unjustifiably accused and 20 sentenced to capital punishment. Who is next? The strange widow down the road? The Coreys? In a time of obscured justice, line were crossed and innocent lives lost. In his breakthrough play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller spins a tale not far from the truth.Letting his readers explore a gruesome tale of blind hatred. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Abigail Williams embodies the wrongdoings of the Salem Witch Trials.

Throughout American history, no matter what time period, humans have been categorized, discriminated against, and treated according to their class, financial status, and race. Many concrete and obvious examples of this have appeared throughout the years, ranging from the Salem witch trials in the late 1600’s, all the way to the recent civil rights movements in the 1950’s and 60’s. Social history uses personal stories to show how class/status and race played a part in the way people were treated in America.