Examples Of Paranoia In The Crucible

Fear, accusations, and doing things for personal gain is a natural human instinct. Similar to The Crucible , a majority of the characters reacted the way they did out of fear,

Fear and paranoia have an extensive history with American politics. Since the times of the thirteen colonies, and the Salem Witch Trials paranoia and suspicion have been a part of daily life in America; Whether it be rational or otherwise. Sporadically, there have 2 other periods in American history when paranoia has reigned politics. The first period of paranoia was during the Cold War, which spurred the Red Scare. Consequently, it also inspired Arthur Miller to write The Crucible as an analogy to the Red Scare.

Throughout, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller suspicion of witchcraft is brought up as it is blasphemy to practice such sorcery in this time. This exemplifies the mass hysteria that can occur in the world. History is repeated as the events in the crucible reflect events that involve mass hysteria in the twentieth century. Although the crucible also reflects the red scare with communism that occurred innthe 1920's it also is similiar to the problem people are facing with muslims as a muslim terrorist group called ISIS brings fear to citizens. The start of the mass hysteria of ISIS began shortly after the attack on the twin towers.

Keylian Ortiz-Tirado Mrs. Gardner English II Hnrs 24 February 2023 Mass Hysteria in The Crucible What is mass hysteria? Mass hysteria is defined as “an outbreak of unusual and uncharacteristic behaviors, thoughts and feelings, or health symptoms shared among a group of people” (Raypole). In the play there are multiple ways that mass hysteria is shown throughout the different acts. The events in The Crucible by Arthur Miller were deeply rooted in mass hysteria such as when Abigail was in the courtroom, when Betty woke up and started shouting names, and when there were poppets found in Proctor’s house.

The last, but not least example of why mass hysteria takes over this town is when at the end of act two John Proctor said, “We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” this quote shows that most of the things that are happening are because of vengeance, people are accusing people that no one likes in town in order to become powerful in the town, or to get rid of that people. Mass hysteria conducts people to believe that all people that is being accused are witches without even proving it or listening to what they say in their defense. for this reason hysteria caused the death of many innocent people, just because they were unfairly accused

Catie Hassett Mrs. Hodges H American Literature 25 October, 2017 Hysteria in Salem From the Merriam-Webster dictionary, hysteria can be defined as behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unmanageable fear or emotional excess. In The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, hysteria serves as a major theme that controls many of the characters, both in their mental beliefs and physical actions. The tightly-knit Puritan society that makes up Salem, in the 1690s where the play takes place, did not accept a single idea of witchcraft and wizardry in any way, shape, or form, due to their strict religious beliefs and principles. The rumors of witchcraft alone makes the people of Salem act by hysterical fear which leads to multiple innocent deaths and

The Crucible by Arthur Miller relates to many hysterias that happen in reality. This book gives us the attention to this repetitive problem, and to prevent it in the future we can be more aware of what’s happening, and how to handle it. Likewise, The Red Scare was caused by the people themselves, there were many concerns in Eastern Europe and China about the issue of communism. The general idea of this novel is that there are continuous cases of hysteria that have happened in the past which is why Arthur Miller decided to make this novel and based off of his own experiences, he decided to bring consciousness on this matter; he wants people to understand the concept of hysteria. Although Fear was influenced into their minds, one element that

In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the play conveys the hysteria that took place in Salem in 1692. Although the play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on historical events and his characters show how paranoia and fear can escalate. There are many references to chronicle how the setting, Salem, is like a crucible. A crucible as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is a pot in which metals or other substances are heated to a very high temperature or melted, a difficult test or challenge and a place or as a situation that forces people to change or make difficult decisions. Appears akin to an authentically decent illustration for the bellicose hysteria that the little village of Salem contained amid the witch trials.

Mob hysteria, as described by CollinsDictionary, is “the heightened or extreme emotions that can be experienced by individuals as part of a larger crowd, usually caused by violence and/or fear” (Http://www.Collinsdictionary.com). Mob hysteria is not a relatively new concept in the human psyche. For example, on April 29 1992, Riots broke out on the street of Los Angeles, CA over the beating of an unarmed, African American motorists named Rodney King by four police officers. Two less recent examples of mob hysteria occurred in the mid 1700’s with the the Salem Witch Trials and in the mid 1950’s with trials lead by Senator Joseph McCarthy in order to root out communism in the federal government. One of the most magnificent examples of mob hysteria

Paranoia and Hysteria in The Crucible Society is a fragile thing. As history has proved time and time again, when emotions run high amongst people, societal order is often the first thing to dissolve. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the society of Salem, Massachusetts collapses due to the paranoia and hysteria generated by the witch hunts. The Crucible is set against the backdrop of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials.

Throughout these stories, we sure can see that we learned that fear can lead to mass hysteria. It also may lead people to believe the wrong point of view and think incorrectly. In the book The crucible by Arthur Miller, there was small town called Salem.

Twenty innocent people were falsely executed in Salem, Massachusetts, 1693. Everyone in the town was caught in the crossfire of accusations and allegations. Arthur Miller captures this mass hysteria perfectly through the tragic character John Proctor in his play, The Crucible. Throughout the play, this collective hysteria eclipses the morality and desire for truth involved in decision-making, ultimately leading to the death of the protagonist, John Proctor.

Mass hysteria in The Crucible exhibits the amplitude to which surroundings affect a person; it may even drive them into a neurotic mindset. Fear among a society of people can disperse quickly and dominate their lives. In the play, the Crucible, the fear of witches took over the lives of scores of town members. The girls involved believed it, the judges believed it, and the townsfolk believed it. Mary Warren had said, "I heard

Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.

He believes that children nor women would lie to him, but it somewhat fears him about the fear of witchcraft in a puritan society. In the Crucible, hysteria can engage by tearing up the whole community. This enables people to accuse others for the grudges held between them saying that they would take part in witchcraft or have any actions against the devil. “There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships.