Arthur Miller’s inspiration for his play The Crucible resulted from his observation of the repetition of “witch trials" throughout history. All of these witch-hunts, especially the one that occurred in Salem, were bred from the political and social repression present in the communities. This communal repression influenced a hypocritical mindset, which then prompted some individuals to manipulate others’ fear in order to gain a breath of personal freedom. Through comparing the Red Scare to the trials of Salem and analyzing the repetitive nature of these horrific acts, Miller emphasizes the idea that it is human nature for people to turn to the manipulation of fear in order to liberate themselves from their present reality. Before the witch-hunts …show more content…
Many citizens of Salem felt that they had been wronged in some sort of fashion and longed for revenge. However, due to Salem’s strict political and religious system, people could not actively seek their vengeance. In order to achieve their revenge these individuals acted in a similarly hypocritical manner and accused their enemies of witchcraft. In this way, “old scores could be settled on a plane of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord,” and people’s foes would be punished, whether morally just or not, in a way that the church found justifiable by their law (Miller 8). For instance, since Thomas Putnam’s brother-in-law was rejected for the position of minister, Putnam “felt that his own name, and the honor of his family had been smirched by the village, and he meant to right matters however he could,” and therefore he accused his enemies of witchcraft in order to gain revenge for an entirely different matter (Miller 15). He even went so far as to involve his daughter in the hoax, telling her to accuse certain people, for “the little crazy children jangled the keys of the kingdom,” meaning the church highly valued the children’s outcries of witchcraft (Miller 77). Hence, as individuals used accusation as a tool of expression, primarily revenge, other members of the community became frightened that they would be sought out as witches too, thus causing mass panic. Individuals, such as Putnam or Abigail, increased their power and manipulated others’ fear in order to fulfill their personal want and overall communal power. This brewed a form of group hysteria, built from “rampant suspicion, spiraling panic, a thirst for vengeance,” and enabled the community as a whole to end the lives of twenty people, all out of individuals’
There is a certain polarity that comes with the territory in witchcraft. In most witch trials, there was a sense of “he said, she said”, one side claiming one thing and the other disagreeing. This seemed to flow into the realm of historical thought on the matter. There is a dividing line of external and internal interpretations on the subject of the witch trials, especially including the trials in Salem. However, I argue that the line between the external and internal interpretations of the witch trials is blurred, the sides often bleeding into each
Crucible Synthesis Essay The idea of ¨witchcraft hysteria¨ is still around in today 's world, it goes back to the Puritans hanging people for practicing ¨witchcraft¨, McCarthyism, and racial gun violence across the United States. This can be seen through these events, that fear is the main cause of the world 's uncontrollable emotions. One, such as racial gun violence brings in a lot of heated contention due to it being considered one of the worldś most uncontrollable issues today. Therefore, that is why todayś ¨witchcraft hysteria¨ is very violent, due to the cause of racial gun violence across the United States.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953. Arthur Miller wrote the play because he was inspired by McCarthyism. McCarthyism was the hunt for communists that was taken too far. In The Crucible he presented a universal message. He was comparing how communists did exist and witches did not, but yet they were both taken as serious.
Fear is seen in everyone’s daily life. Many different fears affect different people but when those fears are used to manipulate people’s lives, it can cause destruction and hurt many. When fear is used as a tool of manipulation, it can control others actions through fear of death, betrayal, and abandonment. This can be seen through the sources the Crucible, 1984, and in today’s society with toxic relationships. One of the ways fear is used to manipulate is using the fear of death against others.
Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.
In his book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (1702),” clergyman John Hale comes forth to confront the recent events going on at the time. Initially, Hale alludes to the questionable actions and activities of the townspeople being accused of witchcrafts, and being imprisoned as punishment. In addition, he discloses how everyone suspicious will be accused, not even young children are safe from the hands of this fate. Hale’s purpose of publishing this book was to describe the incident of the Witch Trials, and to reveal his experience of the trials, since his own wife was accused. By employing a didactic tone, Hale relays the actions of the past that targeted the Puritans and those wrongly accused of witchcrafts, so this occurrence
There had been feuds happening in Salem long before the trials even began. For example, the Putnams had accused Rebecca Nurse of using witchcraft against Ann Putnam Jr. and Sr. The Putnams were very powerful in Salem Village. Nurse was born into a wealthy family, but over time lost all her money, and lived on the edges of the town (Document L). Nurse was originally from Topsfield, a neighboring town.
Hysteria in Salem The Crucible is a play written by American author, Arthur Miller, in 1953. It is a somewhat fictional play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller wrote it as an allegory to the Red Scare, the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism. Miller himself was blacklisted for refusing to testify in front of the HUAC, a committee that was created to investigate any person who might be a communist.
“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Act I, 160). She was the first person in the play to accuse a person of seeing people summon spirits of the Devil. This caused a massive, wide-scale witch hunt to take place; families torn apart, mothers, fathers, and even children murdered for what was considered to be the greater good. Now, others began to accuse people of witchcraft and people who had been lifelong friends to each other now had no choice other than to point fingers at each other or be put to death. Widespread panic and unreasonable action was sweeping through everyone in Salem, all because of a little lie by
Putnam claims that “There is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark. Let your enemies make of it what they will, you cannot blink it more” (16). Putnam is yet another powerful male figure in Salem Betty has taken a grip over in the town. He, in this quote, truly believes that the devil is among the town of Salem based on Betty’s current condition. Reverend Hale, encouraging Tituba to give more names of witches, tells her to look at Betty’s “god- given innocence; her soul is so tender; we must protect her; Tituba; the Devil is out and preying on her like a beast upon the flesh of a pure lamb.
During the hysteria of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. Therefore, their reputation, was ruined. Other people committed many sins in order to keep their reputation clean in town. For instance, some characters had to lie, fight, and accuse other people of witchcraft which could get the individual out of trouble and keep their hands clean. when a person got accused of being a witch, the person’s reputation would get ruined and the person would go to jail or be hanged.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Much of what happens in Salem still resembles some things we see in society today. The word of one man can change people’s ideas and images of another without conclusive evidence. What people fear the most can sometimes bind us together, even if it is not
The novel A Delusion of Satan written by Frances Hill describes the history of the Salem Witch Trials (“Salem”) in 1692, the causes and effects of the witch hysteria, and the biographies of major characters associated with the trials. In the novel, Hill started out explaining the Puritans’ beliefs and customs, the gender roles of men and women in Salem and why women were easily accused of being witches and practicing witchcraft in the 17th century. During that time, women were easily accused of practicing witchcraft because they were viewed as physically, politically and spiritually weaker than men. Men were perceived as the power, status, and worthy in the society, and they dominated women’s behavior and social status. In the 17th century,
The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.