The Fear Of The Unknown Essay

The human imagination is capable of fabricating myths and making them seem realistic, which broadly explains why so many people are afraid of the unknown. For example, people are scared of the dark because they are out of their comfort zone, so their imaginations devise seemingly realistic, yet scary realities. Therefore, people try to avoid being in these frightening situations. Because people cannot see clearly in the dark, and their primary sense is sight, the uncertainty of every action scares them. People are not comfortable with the unknown, which is why they fear moving out of norms. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible validates his claim that when faced with their fear of the unknown, particularly the dread of social isolation, humans show trepidation.
Arthur Miller supports this claim in his The Crucible through Abigail’s manipulation of the judges in this play. Abigail manipulates the judges by threatening them with the unknown so that she can continue her twisted game of accusing people of witchcraft. When Abigail first enters this play, Miller describes her in the stage prompt as a girl who has “an endless capacity for dissembling,” (7) to inform the reader that she is capable of justifying her means with her ends.   For example, when Danforth starts doubting Abigail’s accusations and begins to believe Mary Warren’s plead that she is not affiliated with any kind of witchcraft, Abigail bluffs and threatens him to “beware…the power of Hell,” (108) an unknown force to humans. In doing so, Abigail scares him and ultimately makes him recant his doubtful attitude towards her, which supports Arthur Miller’s claim that people are afraid of the unknown. Arthur Miller further advances his argument that people are afraid of what they don’t know and dread social isolation by showing Danforth’s tone of voice during Abigail’s manipulation. After Abigail intimidates Danforth with the unknown, as the scene goes on, his tone of voice becomes “worried . . . weakening . . . [and...