Fear and guilt are incredibly potent emotions that cause people to do the unthinkable. A normally level-headed civil person can suddenly become a ruthless monster when trying to escape their inner turmoil. This Jekel and Hyde persona wreaks havoc on society when combined with human nature, that is, the willingness to sacrifice others in order to benefit themself. Whether it is salvation from the noose, projection of sin, or simply an attempt to gain land, power, or even safety, scapegoating is utilized with no regard for the consequences. Society has normalized if not encouraged the idea of scapegoating as a way of dealing with these unwanted emotions.
As seen in The Crucible, the selfishness, paranoia, and guilt of Salem citizens leads to the hangings of many- most likely innocent- human beings. In many cases, the fear of losing their lives drove confessions out of the accused. For instance, Judge Danforth says to Mary Warren, “You will confess yourself or you will hang!” and Mary, after more screaming and accusations from the other girls, breaks down and claims Proctor is “the Devil’s man! ... I’ll
…show more content…
However, what these people fail to realize is just how willing people are to give away the very protections, the rights, that could save them from scapegoating. Source E is a cartoon from the Washington Post portraying how people’s rights were trampled over during the Red Scare, but that society justified it by saying they were hunting Communists, saving America (Source E). This isn’t unusual. When it comes to the illusion of safety, humanity is not opposed to letting every right be violated as long as their witch hunt to find scapegoats, can hide under the guise of patriotism. Despite what some would like to believe, the rights given to people do nothing to prevent scapegoating, especially when they are easily taken
Santiago Henao Ms. Medvetz ELA 10, Section 14 2 February 2023 Misogyny causes the Scapegoating Arthur Miller’s story focuses on showing the reader the social hysteria and fear which was present during the Salem witch trials. Characters in the Crucible were really scared about people among them being witches, but they were most scared of being blamed as a witch themselves. The story shows how the girls who were seen dancing in the forest were then blamed for being witches and from there the blame spread everywhere. Despite the story including many male characters who were tried for being witches, most of the people blamed were women due to the popular belief in Puritan society that women were more evil and were worth less than men. This Puritan
In this society that we live in today i believe that we blame others of the problems and we have and maybe have caused upon ourselves. This happen a lot in the crucible because in salem (1692-1693) since witchcraft was brought up that made people look at those who ever did them wrong before and use the witchcraft problem as a solution to get revenge on them. This happen before in the past such as the holocaust which was mainly against the jewish people and others, and also a time when 9/11 happen and how the outcome came out for most muslims that were considered scapegoats. During the holocaust time era the people that were scapegoats for the germans were the jewish people and the “degenerates” such as homosexuals, communists, gypsies, and
Ivan Delgado Mr. Fuerst and Mrs. Smiley English III 27 December 2022 Representation of Injustice and Justice The Salem Witch trials forced many people to decide whether they would tell an unforgivable lie leading to the possible death of others, or deny the accusations and be sent to their death by lynching. In the crucible many had to make these tough choices, Abigail Williams accused many of witchcraft leading to a snowball effect some denying the accusations others giving out more names where on the other hand John Proctor would not say any names. Danforth demonstrates the motif of injustice when he abuses his power and hangs the innocent people of Salem without evidence, whereas John Proctor demonstrates the motif of justice where he stands
Janae Wimbley Mrs. Agee English 102 13 February 2023 People Can Be Easily Fooled In 1692 the Salem witch trials took place in eastern Massachusetts where multiple innocent women and men were arrested and hung on accounts of pursuing witchcraft. Miller based The Crucible off the events of the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy Investigations of the 1950s. He wanted to write a play considering the cultural and political events that were happening in the U.S. around the time of the government seeking to conceal communism. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses dynamic and static characters to display how people value their reputation, obtain justice, experience judgement, and are intolerant to one’s views or beliefs.
Judgment is an easy thing to do but to judge right is the hard part. In the Crucible bad judgment gets thrown around haphazardly causing permanent damage. In this story people manipulate others into executing the people that wronged them. First of all, The people of Salem jump to concussion to quickly cause false judgment in the town. In act one page 33 Abigail said “Good with the Devil!
How does guilt influence the decisions made by people? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, guilt is one of the many themes represented. This consumes the characters and leads to many of the major conflicts in the story. Guilt is seen in the characters like John Proctor after his affair with Abigail. It is also seen in Reverend Hale when he encourages John to confess to save his life.
We should express our guilt in order to prove innocence. In Act 3 of The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, John Proctor states "The woman has never lied Your Excellency. "(miller 103) after admitting that he has slept with Abigail Williams. He was talking about his wife Elizabeth Proctor saying she is an honest woman. Also in Act 3 Mary Warren comes out and says that she and the mean girls were acting the whole time Abigail then tries to show that Mary was a witch by stating "Mary don't tear off my face!"(miller 106) this signifies that Abigail was good at acting even in bad situations.
Society today is really judgemental. If you don’t wear the right clothes or have the right car then you will get judged. It’s kinda like in the book The Crucible if you weren't a puritan then you were an outcast or you might have been a witch. One of the puritan girls Abigail Williams blamed a lot of women who were called puritans and lived the puritan way. In this case people just judged them without looking into far more research.
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.
The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.
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.
The Crucible was written in 1952 by Arthur Miller, the play delivers many messages and carries many themes throughout. Nearly every character in the play is put to the test to display an act of courage, weakness, or truth. Some characters lack these traits and never learn to have courage or display honesty. However, most characters are very courageous and demonstrate these acts throughout the whole play. Overall the theme of the The Crucible boils down to being about honesty, weakness, and courage.
What if there was a society where God was loved the same amount as His wrath is feared? Well, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Puritans were a society who loved and feared God equally. They loved and feared Him to a point where they blamed others for their sins. A group of young girls were caught doing witchcraft in the forbidden woods. The girls put the blame on others so they would not be the ones in trouble and the accused Puritans were all innocent of doing witchcraft.
Hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense. In the book the Crucible there are many hypocrites some dishonest some just following any one to be guilty, but one of the many character is Judge Danforth he mocks Marry when he ask "How were you instructed in your life? Do you not know that God damns all liars?"(3-84), since Danforth is in power for being the judge he thinks that everyone else is ignorant and not being equal as him.
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.