Salem Witch Trial In The Crucible

One of the main character the Crucible, John Proctor , knows that the Salem witchcraft trials were a sham hiding true problems of greed add power

The Crucible, a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller, an American playwright. It is the story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. It is more dramatized and fictionalized than the original story of the Salem witch trials. There were rumors of a girl that was bewitched her name is Betty Parris. She was always in her bedroom and was sick so her father was wondering what the problem was.

I chose to do this term paper on the Salem Witch Trials because this topic has always fascinated me. I watched a movie when I was younger called “The Crucible” and it was interesting to me. I have always wondered if these people was innocent, or really “witches.” Why were all these people killed? Was these people men or women?

The witch trials in Salem in the year 1692 was a scowling time in American history. The New York Post explains about The Crucible play that “... at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witchhunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil.” In The Crucible, John Proctor and his wife are hit with many situations which burdens their relationship. While this is going on, many people were being accused as witches for little incidents which they thought would add up to witchcraft. During this time period, the grudges and personal rivalries between people makes these witch trials immoral and unethical.

Threat of Death During the witch trials around 1693, people were faced with a deadly internal conflict that often times came down to their morals and forced them to evaluate themselves. In Salem alone, 200 people were accused of witchcraft and 20 were executed. The question that the accused had to constantly ask themselves is where their dedication lied; their self-interest, or the larger community.

During the era of Puritanism a major conflict that arose was witchcraft, better known as the Salem Witch Trials. This time was a time where the court was also strongly based around religion and the Bible. Many people who have been accused of being witches were prosecuted and hung for the ungodly practices they were performing. In one case in particular, the case of Abigail Williams and John Proctor was a case of adultery gone wrong. The speculation of witchcraft in Salem caused many truths to reveal themselves, and in the end, ironically, the people who were innocent were hung to their deaths.

Unjust Hangings of The innocent Sentenced to death by hanging for a crime you didn't even commit. In Author Millers play "The Crucible" A woman by the name of Mary warren allowed for innocent people hang for false accusations of witchcraft. Mary Warren is the most responsible for the hanging because she had information to stop the trials from happening, she accused the family she lived with of witchcraft, then when she was on trial to prove witchcraft wasn't happening she lied to save herself and watch the innocent hang. In Author Millers player starts out with a group of girls who just got caught dancing in the forest by reverend Paris and they were accused of preforming witchcraft.

What a Horrible World     In today 's day and age we have more technological, medicinal, societal, and worldly advancements than we did in either 1692 or 1947, but we are still just as easily corrupted by jealousy, power, and paranoia. The years 1692 and 1947 are perfect examples of prospering societies that became undermined through very similar processes. In 1629 the Salem Witch Trials and in 1947 the McCarthy Communist Trials- were both held unjustly, involving condemnation based on unfair trial practices. People desperately admitted to being a witch (1692) or to being a communist (1947) only because they didn’t want to die. Even if you were found innocent your life was virtually over because your career and livelihood had been destroyed

The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.

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.

The first four colonies of America were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Rhode Island, following with Connecticut. John Winthrop, Thomas Hooker, Roger Williams, along with Anne Hutchinson, were few of the founders of the first colonies. Centered around religion, after escaping religious persecution, these colonies based the way they lived their lives around the Bible, Church, along with the New testament. The Puritans emphasized religious obligations and followed strict guidelines pertaining to the Bible. They broke away from the church of England and became their own religion following the teachings of the Bible as well as the Old Testament.

The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.

The Salem witch trials was one of the most absurd and tragic events in history of pre-colonial America. A fine example of how believing in accusations and hearsay could affect a lot of people in a short span of time. the justice system is flawed and prejudice was allowed to reign over the people. I found this topic very interesting even though it is one of the most regretted in history. I’ve always been the type of person who likes reading all those weird and peculiar things on the internet.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It gives insight about what people had to deal with in this situation and how they handled it. The trials were basically a big test which helped figuring out whether or not people were guilty of witchcraft. This is an example of what a crucible is. In our world today we still have crucibles and even though they are different than back then, they all relate to each other because of what influence they have on people.

Salem in The Crucible from Arthur Miller is the home to chaos and murder due to witchery that is still unclear as to whether it happened or not. These events caused major changes in the characters from start to finish, at the same time a change in society. Furthermore, calling what happened in Salem a tragedy is an understatement when Salem is clearly in a state of anarchy. Similarly, authority is discontinued and Salem enters a “she said he said” state of mind which only further confuses Salem while also hiding the true slaughterer of innocent Puritan people right in front of their faces. Furthermore, this rising anarchy inhibits the people of logical thinking and hides major perpetrators right in front of them.