The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Lying comes naturally because it keeps telling others the truth knowing the relationship between two people may suffer. In The Crucible written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, characters are prone to lie not just to themselves, but also to their own friends. The Salem Witch Trials prosecuted around eighty people to death for suspecting them befriending the devil. Miller shows the major consequence for lying results in death. Characters in The Crucible lie in hopes of saving themselves from mass hysteria and the possibility of death.

As the story begins, countless teenage girls from Salem met at night in the woods including Abigail. The woods is known to be the “Devil’s place”, not many people dare to enter the woods. In the Puritan religion dancing is thought of a way to contact the devil. In the beginning, Tituba, Abigail Williams, and Betty Parris were caught by Reverend Parris dancing in the woods with other naked girls; Reverend keeps this a secret until his Betty falls ill to even eat or drink. He decides the only way to have the devil removed from town is to ask someone with more experience with witchcraft.

The audience learns early in the play that Abigail, Betty, Mercy, and Mary Warren are witches trying to cover their tracks by accusing others of witchery. At one point when Betty is ill in bed, all of the girls are in the same room and are discussing what happened. They all went out at night and danced around a fire, Tituba charmed blood, and Abigail drank it- hoping to kill Elizabeth Proctor, the wife of her love interest. When they meet in the house, the girls plan to admit to dancing, but nothing more (Miller 18-20). At the end of the act, they start accusing nearly everyone of being a witch to get themselves out of trouble (48).

The Crucible by: Arthur Miller is seen as a classic read by many high school students in English classes all over America in today’s era. The Crucible is set in Massachusetts in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials. During this time more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft and as a result, many innocent people suffered. This play highlights the hysteria of the afflicted children and how they used lies to manipulate the people of Salem into convicting and hanging innocent people. The mastermind behind these lies teenager Abigail Williams and her accomplices, Betty Parris, Mercy Lewis, and many other village girls.

The Role of Fear in The Crucible Fear plays an important role in the play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Fear motivated the accusers and the accused such as the character Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, and John Proctor. Fear motivated Abigail in many ways, first was when her and the other girls were in the woods and they were dancing and Abigail drank chicken blood.

Fear in The Crucible Fear plays an important role in the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. Fear motivated the accusers and accused in the play like Abigail Williams, John Proctor, and Mary Warren. Abigail Williams was really scared in the beginning of the play because she was drinking blood in the woods well all the other girls watched and danced. Another one of her fear was getting convicted by the court so she kept lying to the court so she would not get in trouble.

In the background of the Salem witch trials, Arthur Miller's timeless masterpiece "The Crucible" explores the themes of hysteria, power, and truth. The play, which is a metaphor for the McCarthy era of the 1950s and is set in the puritanical culture of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, was written by Arthur Miller. " The Crucible" investigates how fear may proliferate like wildfire and result in devastating conduct, especially toward helpless people. Miller makes a statement in his writing on the perils of groupthink and the necessity of maintaining personal integrity in the face of peer pressure. The characters are captivated by their fear of the devil and the presence of evil throughout the entire play.

At the beginning of the play, the girls get caught dancing in the woods which is against Puritan law. Knowing they will be whipped for dancing and being questioned by Reverend Hale for speaking with the Devil, Abigail decides to conjure a lie stating “I never called him! Tituba, Tituba… She makes me drink blood… She sends her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer!”

The Crucible by: Arthur Miller is a play about the Salem witch trials that happened years ago. The Salem witch trials consisted of lots of deceiving and accusations. Because lying can lead to more lies or sometimes get you out of trouble, does not mean you should continue telling the lies. You should tell the truth even if you get in more trouble.

Miller uses children as a truth hidden behind a lie as some believe they live in a world of virtue. They were chosen to be the main accusers for their “purity,” their sense of judgement of witchcraft, and their sadistic actions that are considered untrustworthy and unrealistic. He intends to use it as a way to reveal the reality of children and their poor judgement within the play. “...I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil!

Spencer Davis Mr. DeMello American Literature 3/16/2023 The Crucible Essay Rough Draft Intro Paragraph: Truth/Lies From 1692-1693, 25 people lost their lives as a result of the Salem Witch Trials. These trials were fueled by lies and misinformation. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, details the severe effects of the Salem Witch trials on a Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1600s.

We danced. And Tituba conjured… And that is all… Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things… I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,”(20). Then, once suspicions grow higher it would be Abigail who would start accusing others of witchcraft, showing how hypocritical these girls were acting. This is an issue in society, with abortion rights and mask mandates.

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.

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.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.