Comparing Justice In The Crucible And Twelve Angry Men

Christopher Speckert English 9-10 A Mrs. Slagel 5 November 2015 Whose Fault Were the Salem Witch Trials? In Arthur Miller's famous book; “The Crucible” many people are fighting to prove their innocence to save their lives. If they admit to being a witch and practice witchcraft then they can live, but have to be known as a witch for the rest of their lives (Miller 1234). But if they refuse to confess being a witch then they will be killed (Miller 1272).

The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, focuses on the town of Salem, Massachusetts, during the deplorable witch trials revolving around the 1600's. Within these trials, there were multiple accusations that were made about who was really involved in the witch trials, many of the characters who were falsely and baselessly accused were innocent. The falsification that were created by the main character of The Crucible, Abigail Williams were only for her own benefit to protect herself from being accused as one of the “witches” or had she had been there in the forest the night there was witchcraft . For example, in (Act 1.Scene 3)ABIGAIL: She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer! ABIGAIL:

The CrucibleDuring the Salem witch trials lots of people died because of a giant misunderstanding. 25 people were hung during the Salem witch trials because of misunderstandings and lying. In The Crucible ,by Arthur Miller, Abigail Williams show that misunderstandings and lying can cause chaos. Abigail Williams shows misunderstandings and lying can cause chaos, when Mary goes to tell the truth. Abigail starts acting.

In the late sixteen hundreds, the mania of the Salem witch trials affected various families and individuals. In order for such terrible events to take place, an array of people catalyzed the trials. In Arthur Miller’s theatrical work The Crucible, Miller creates a specific group of young girls who accuses countless amount of men and women of witchcraft. Abigail, the leader of the girls, testifies in many of the executions taken place by lying about the people’s collaboration with the devil. As one of the antagonists of the story, she intends to kill Elizabeth, the wife of her paramour, John Proctor.

A courtroom full of innocent people waiting to discover if they will be put to death. Everyone is tense and many are frightened. Who was the cause of all of this? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and her friends were caught dancing in the woods. The girls had to act fast in order to save themselves from getting into trouble because, in their community, their actions were considered sinful and immoral.

During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

A death sentence is not a typical punishment for an accusation with no evidence. However, Arthur Miller’s novel, The Crucible, is not a typical situation. In this novel there is a series of trials taking place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. These trials are debating cases of witchcraft, all of which are commenced by simple accusations with no physical evidence. The majority of defendants are accused by Abigail Williams and her group of friends.

Back in the late sixteen hundreds the people during that time are very strict on religion. During the time a colony in the Americas called the puritans believed in witchcraft. People that are accused are guilty till proven innocent. In the Crucible it portrays injustice by how Danforth is not following court that is ruled by religion, Abigail intimidating the court, and the accused not having proper court rights. The following reasons will explain why the crucible is injustice.

Through the Salem witch trials, twenty-four innocent people lost their lives due to betrayal. They were hung because they were accused and found to be guilty of witchcraft. In reality, everyone that was accused and had died were innocent, but used as targets by others to save their own lives. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, out of fear, Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, and Reverend Hale betrayed their morals to save themselves. As a result of betrayal, lives were taken, relationships were ruined, and trusts were broken.

In The Crucible, there could be many suspects to blame for the innocent deaths that happened in Salem. Proctor could be blamed for the innocent deaths because he lied about his affair with Abigail. Speaking of Abigail... in my opinion Abigail Williams is the one to blame for the innocent deaths because of the lies she told, the accusations she made, and the affair she had with John Proctor. Abigail Williams told many, many lies in The Crucible. The reason the witch trials began in the first place was because of the lie she told about being in the woods.

Personally, Juror Eight expresses this scenario pristinely where “‘[i]t’s very hard to keep personal prejudice out of a thing like this. And no matter where you run into it, prejudice obscures the truth.’” (Rose 66). Additionally, human judgement appeared incredibly relevant when the jurors attempted to collaborate and reach a verdict; there were jurors that demonstrated prejudice, stubbornness, integrity, indifference, and much more attitudes. This situation applies to every individual in real life; every single person upholds a unique lifestyle, a unique vision, and a unique “personal legend”.

Since the beginning of time people have gone through trials in court to either be proven innocent or guilty. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller a massive number of people were being convicted in Salem, Massachusetts because of the witch trials. The law of the land states that everyone is above suspicion until they are demonstrated to be guilty by legitimate evidence; in the play the Crucible if a person was accused of an unlawful act they were summons for being a witch and working for the devil without proper confirmation. Citizens in Salem were imposed to establish their innocent or be put to death, which caused conflicting issues in the village.

Danforth explains his inability to free the accused people because, “twelve are already hanged for the same crime. It is not just,” (Miller 129). In saying this he admits that a person can only avoid a hanging by confessing to witchcraft even if their statement contains no truth. Combining this notion with the one he declared earlier displays the hypocritical nature of Danforth when put in this hysterical

The jurors in Twelve Angry Men also had to deal with this problem. Juror number 3 had a son who have not talked to in years because he was so tough on him when he was younger. This juror had no trouble believing that the boy killed his father because he thinks his son could have killed him. Juror number 11 was an immigrant who believed in the American Justice system with all his heart. He wanted to make sure that the boy had a fair trial because he believed that was the American way, his experiences in his own country were very unfair to people of different races, religions and

The movie “Twelve Angry Men” illustrates lots of social psychology theories. This stretched and attractive film, characterize a group of jurors who have to decide the innocence or guiltiness of an accused murder. They are simply deliberating the destiny of a Puerto Rican teenaged boy accused of murdering his father. Initially, as the film begins, except the juror Davis (Henry Fonda), all other jurors vote guilty. Progressively, the jurors begin trying to compromise on a point that everybody agree because the decision of the jury has to be unanimous.