One of the biggest shocks people hear when it comes to the Crucible is that those characters were real, which makes the weight of their deaths that much heavier. A total of 20 people died in the Salem Witch Trials: 19 of them were hanged, and one was tortured to death by pressing; that person was Giles Corey. Not much is said about Giles Corey in the play, but it is said that actions speak louder than words, and that is true for him. When he refused to utter the names of others that might’ve been involved with witchcraft, he set himself up to be tortured to death and yet never said anything other than “more weight” (Miller, 207). Although he is a minor character, Giles Corey plays the role of an anti-hero, who not only displays probably the biggest act of bravery in the whole play, but also demonstrates the fact that although the judges were “learned and all-powerful”, a high education and obsession for power cannot silence the tenacity displayed by such a truthful character. At the beginning of the play, Giles had a proclivity to say things that he didn’t understand were accusatory and ends up becoming this sort of villain-like character, but through a turn of events, he ended up becoming an unlikely hero. As Giles is introduced, Reverend Parris and the others are discussing the situation with Betty and what might be wrong with her, and Giles unknowingly says “Is she going to fly again? I hear she flies.” (Miller, 150). He didn’t mean to accuse her of being a witch, he
The times back then were terrible. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller in 1953 about The Salem Witch Trials of 1692.McCarthyism was the “witch hunt” for the communist in 1953.the parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names,lack of proof ,and reststance. The first reason they are parallel is because of naming names. Hollywood director Elia Kazan went in front of the HUAC twice. The first time he did not confess and names.
Zi Liu Ms. Elder College English 11 The Crucible Break Assignment ACT ONE 1. Why did the Salem settlement need a theocracy? Why had the settlers begun to turn toward individualism?
“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
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The trials resulted in the executions of twenty people, fourteen of them women, and all but one by hanging. The play was written in 1952 after the Red Scare in America that caused much hysteria, like the Salem witch trials. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Each of the characters of Proctor, Hale, and Elizabeth changed from the beginning of the play to the end of the story. Proctor becomes more honest; Hale becomes more skeptical, and Elizabeth becomes more forgiving.
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
In The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, he writes about a story of witches in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is about a group of young girls who control the village with the fake pretense of having seen the devil and who he has worked with John Proctor and Reverend Parris are two characters within the play who both have similar experiences to each other. The story teaches us that different actions lead to different circumstances. Reverend Parris is the uncle of abigail, one of the girls in the wood who chanted.
Parris is a very self-centered man and is very embedded in his place in the community. He is a preacher for the church of Salem and his niece and daughter have been “bewitched” or so he thinks. Parris believes what he does is just and that no one should oppose him. This is also why he refuses to let news about his niece and daughter get out, he doesn’t want people to overthrow his position. Parris is a static character due to his nature of unchanging personality wise throughout the crucible, he is always self-centered.
For example, Deputy Governor Danforth knew the truth behind witchcraft, but he refused to announce it because he feared that his reputation would be destroyed. Next, Abigail caused many people to be hanged so she denied the truth and kept her name clean. On the other hand, John Proctor died because he valued dignity, and decided not to live with a dirty name. All things considered, many characters in “The Crucible”, valued their reputation among other people more than the truth, which caused other people to get harmed and die. The Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were the cause of the death of a lot of innocent people because having a good reputation was very important to some characters in The Crucible, like Judge Danforth and Abigail.
Giles Corey was a very important part of the Salem Witch Trials as he was the only one who was pressed to death, showing the lengths people would go to to compromise the beliefs of others in order to gain influence in the community. Giles was one of the few men, even as a true member of his religion, who was accused of witchcraft (ORR; User). Giles Corey had been known for killing his first wife which had brought suspicion to him. People of Salem would go these lengths to just prove him guilty. He was an eighty year old man when he was accused, while bringing conflict as he was one of the few elderly men accused (User).
Giles Corey can be much similar to Reverend Hale by Giles accidentally speaking bad of his wife. Saying, (“She reads weird books…”) after he said that he realized that she would then be tried for witchery. He tried to defend her, but failed. Sourced from The Crucible. Much like Reverend Hale realizing he sentenced the innocent.
When push comes to shove, everyone makes a tough decision, but in the end the decision was either out of fear to protect themselves, or a strategy to gain a designated amount of authority. In today 's society, many of the decisions people make lead to riots in the streets and people getting hurt. Similarly, the Ferguson riot in Missouri years ago, where many civilians were injured because of decisions made by everyone involved. Whether it turned violent because they wanted to prove something or because they feared the police when they showed up. In the story, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the characters also illustrate the fact that it is human nature to defend oneself, to strive to survive despite the harm such actions can cause to
It is ironic that the innocent people such as Nurse are punished, while the wicked go unpunished. The Salem witch trials can be compared to a crucible. A crucible is a pot used to melt metals and other substances. However, a crucible also symbolises a difficult test or trial. In the context of the play,
How john Proctor was a dynamic character in The Crucible and changed throughout the play. He confessed to adultry to try to save his wife. He turned against Abigail even though he didnt want to turn her in at first. He almost confessed to Witchcraft but then changed his mind because he didnt want his family name ruined. Therefore, How john Proctor was a dynamic character in The Crucible and changed throughout the play.
Reverend Hale, from the play The Crucible, is a dynamic character who was involved in determining the guilt of convicted witches in the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller is based on the true events that occurred in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1953. Reverend Hale enters Salem with the assumption that there is witchcraft in the colony due to many unexplained events. Hale's character change can be traced in events that occurred throughout the story. He seeks to convict and condemn the witches in the beginning of the play, but by the end, he realizes the corruption of Salem in the convectors, judges, and witnesses and seeks to change the fate of the accused.
“Character Analysis over The Crucible” Arthur Miller is a commonly-known playwright, most famous for his 1953 play, The Crucible. The basis for The Crucible came from the witch trials which occurred in Salem, Massachusetts during the puritan era. Miller even uses some of the same characters in his dramatized play that were a part of the original witch trials in Salem. However, Miller made a few alterations to the historical members of the Salem society in order to suit his dramatic purpose in The Crucible, particularly Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Reverend Samuel Parris.