The Crucible Fallacies

There are many logical fallacies to be found In Arthur Millers, The Crucible, too many to count for. The author uses many fallacies because writers will purposefully use logical fallacies to make an argument seem more persuasive or valid than it really is. In fact, the examples of fallacies on the following pages might be examples you have heard or read. Logical fallacies make an argument weak by using mistaken beliefs/ideas, invalid arguments, illogical arguments, and/or deceptiveness. If you are arguing, avoid fallacies of thought because they create weaknesses in an argument.

The Crucial World Inside the Crucible The trial of Rebecca Nurse is a perfect example of logical fallacy at work. Back in Salem, Massachusetts people had assumptions, also known as illusions, against other Salem citizens. With no proof or evidence it was also known as logically fallacy. Which is faulty reasoning using to persuade, done manipulatively.

This all leads to Elizabeth still playing along with the pretense of witchcraft and finally accusing Elizabeth herself in a devious plan. She stabs herself and blames Elizabeth in order to get her arrested and Proctor to herself. The idea stemmed when Mary Warren was making her poppet, “Abby sat beside [her] when [she] made it.” (Miller 76). This shows that Abigail’s idea was conjured up at this moment and she is later found stabbed in the same spot as the needle was on the doll.

In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, he shows a mass hysteria that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Although, the play is fiction, Miller based the plot of his play on the historical event, the Salem Witch Trials. According to the the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century, The Crucible explores a mass hysteria that its residents must go through because of the witchcraft accusations made by young girls and many other people of the region. These accusations, we learn further in the novel, are not true and are purely for the purpose to put the blame of someone's mistakes or wrongdoings to someone else. The accusers is constitutionally finding scapegoats to back up their culpability.

When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, it was during the era of McCarthyism in postwar America. Artists, creators, and people from all walks of life were being accused of conspiring with Soviet Russia and spreading Communism throughout the United States. These citizens often lost their jobs and had their lives destroyed because of the aggressive accusations coming from the US Government and those who thought its cause just. Similarly, during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, many innocent civilians were hanged because of their suspected connection to Satan. During both of these eras, people rightfully feared that even their closest friends and neighbors would turn them in due to pressure from authority.

Twenty-five men and women died of false accusations against themselves in the 17th Century Salem Witch trials. Two hundred five leaders in the US government were accused of being communist by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Both historical events make a negative parallel to each other, thus exposing the detrimental effects of fear and selfishness on humans. Author Miller in the play, “The Crucible”, uses a jealous and destructive tone that draws striking similarities between the witch-hunt that took place in the 17th Century Salem and the communist hunt led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Miller uses the tool of allegory to reveal the dangerous consequences of falsely accusing individuals and exposing the motives of those in power who use fear and manipulation to maintain control.

The Crucible Playwright, Arthur Miller, wrote The Crucible in 1953. The Crucible is a play set in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is based on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but it has an underlying message that connects it to the Red Scare. In order to address the social issues during the Red Scare, Miller uses Abigail to symbolize Joseph McCarthy, logical fallacies in Danforth's dialogue, and motifs that represent the battle of good vs. evil.

Abigail, who is one of the children who sparked the conspiracy of working with the Devil and witchcraft, she furthers the accusation of witchcraft by accusing Elizabeth of sticking a needle into Abigail’s stomach with the use of a poppet, elaborated on by Cheever when he states “stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly he draw a needle out [...] [Abigail] testify it were your wife’s familiar spirit pushed it in” (Miller 70). Abigail is adding fuel to the fire by accusing

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.

Argumentative Essay: The Crucible John Proctor was a strong-loved man. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in the 1950s to compare the events happening in The Crucible to the real Red Scare. In The Crucible, I believe John Proctor could have ended the mass hysteria in Salem by telling the truth about his sins sooner. He could have never gotten close to Abigail and had a stronger voice against the accusations. John Proctor could have ended the mass hysteria in many ways.

When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.

In the play, The Crucible, written by Aurthor Miller, he establishes meaning throughout the play alongside utilizing logical fallacies by creating a persuasive lens that makes an argument convincing towards the audience. One of the many fallacies that Miller applies throughout the play is Ad Baculum logical fallacy (scare tactics), and it is used when Mary Warren begins speaking during court and the girls in the courtroom begin building panic by repeating everything Mary Warren is saying: Danforth, growing hysterical: Why can they only repeat you? Proctor: Give me a whip––I’ll stop it! Mary Warren: They’re sporting.

“Mass hysteria is a condition which affects a group of people, it is characterized by excitement, anxiety, irrational behavior, beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness within said group.” The Crucible was written and published on January 22, 1953, as means of pointing out the utter insanity of the Communist Red Scare. In the events which partook in the Red Scare, an organization by the name of the House Un-American Activities Committee was formed in 1938 and led by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy, targeted and accused American citizens of being communists, most notably those who were successful. In The Crucible, I argue Mary Warren could have ended the mass hysteria in Salem by sticking to the truth, not taking Abigail’s threats seriously,

Abigail encouraged a group of girls to pretend to be sick, Including Mary Warren, Elizabeth’s servant. Abigail stated that she saw a ghost of Elizabeth, basically that Elizabeth had done witchcraft on her. Elizabeth was given a poppet by Mary, and that poppet had a needle in the stomach under the dress. Abigail stabbed herself in order to make believe that Elizabeth was bewitching her. When they went to search the proctor’s house they found the poppet and they took Elizabeth.

Joseph McCarthy insisted communist spies were holding governmental positions when he discerned he could control the public with fear (Association, The Independence Hall). Reverend Parris, along with other members of the church holding high positions, insisted witchcraft was to blame for the young girls’ actions (Miller, Arthur). Both of these examples involved a situation where a member of the community that people trust used the power of their position to persuade and command the people. The weight of their opinion was abused to keep their high