Wherever there is a blaming there is punishment. During the 1690’s there was a mass hysteria going on in Salem. Witches were the new scare and anyone and everyone was one. In the Crucible it explains the madness going on and how big of an impact it became. Although the Salem witch trials happened over 300 years ago, the lack or difference in punishment can help provide lessons that the United States are still leaning from today.
A History of Persecution For millennium humans have been afraid of the unknown and what they do not understand. This fear has led to violence and the perpetration of unspeakable actions in the name of eradicating that fear. During the 1940’s and 50’s the United States was suffering under the fear of communist sabotage and were turning to McCarthyism to root out the traitors. Playwright Arthur Miller saw the unfairness and mad persecutions that were sweeping the nation and satired it all in his play The Crucible which is a retelling of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Miller used the play to represent injustices that were going on at the time such as accusations that had no substantial evidence, an unfair assumption that the accused was guilty until proven innocent, and the tendency of Senator McCarthy to retaliate against any criticism against him an accusation of being a communist sympathizer.
Grudges and Rivalries, we all have them, but some people take it too far and do something about it! The crucible takes place in Salem Massachusetts during the raw winter. It was 1692 when the puritan belief was dominant. They believed that God was the answer for everything and if you did not believe that, you were shunned from the community. The whole story is about a group of girls who were telling lies and accusing people of witchcraft.
When repressed people are given the opportunity to express their deepest, most sinister desires, fear takes hold and unrest unravels. In 1692, Salem Massachusetts found itself in the grips of a similar panic when the lives of twenty people were mercilessly taken, in what remains today, a question to most scholars. Arthur Miller further develops this cycle in his modern drama, “The Crucible,” where individuals are murdered due to an inexplicable fear. Although not entirely accurate in terms of historical fact, the characters exhibit personal contempt for others through their own self-seeking and destructive hidden agendas that support the theory of widespread frenzy. Because Arthur Miller wants to depict the dangers of the development and progression of hysteria, “The Crucible” illustrates this through the antagonist Reverend Paris, a closed-minded Puritan society, and the persecuted group of young women on trial.
Dear diary, I have travelled the world and witnessed many conflicts, but the days of 1692 was by the far the highest, it was a time of fear and hysteria of people being convicted of witch craft. I am beginning to feel that conflict doesn’t just resolve matters it can bring the best, worst or unexpected reactions of people. Conflict in my opinion is to fight or battle over the one idea; it can also take over people’s survival instincts. Conflict can bring people together or tear two people apart and this can affect someone badly. The fears I had in Salem in 1692 was that the most honest and caring people were being prosecuted and murder by their innocence.
Nick Kasper Long Live the Curse of the Pyncheon Family Throughout the novel The House of the Seven Gables, there are many main themes that contrast and intertwine with each other, but the main and central theme that most excites me is the plot and theme surrounding the Pyncheon curse. The Pyncheon curse is one of greed and evil that is brought on the Pyncheon family and the generations after when Colonel Pyncheon accuses Matthew Maule of being involved in witchcraft in the first chapter The Old Pyncheon Family, and eventually has Matthew Maule hung at the gallows so that he can take his land for himself. The Curse starts off in the very beginning of the book and works down through, which plays key roles
They made life miserable for those accused and did not stop, even when they had had their “fun”. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, draws obvious parallels between the 1950’s Red Scare and the witch-hunts that took place in Salem of 1692. Miller connects the hysteria brought about through accusations thrown around by both Senator McCarthy and Abigail Williams by emphasizing how much power their groups hold over everyone. During the times of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare, fear ruled those unfortunate enough to be involved in nearly any conflict. Be it fear of witchcraft or communism,the fact is that it swept throughout the early and post-industrial United States.
Survey of Am. Lit and Comp 18 October 2010 Crucible Essay In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the suspicion of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts consumes the people of the town with questions and accusations. The theme of this drama is that fear has the power to govern one’s actions. This theme ties in well with the Stephen Vincent Benet quote. “Persecution follows superstition and intolerance…once we light that fire we cannot foresee where it will end or what it will consume”.
Fear is defined as a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, or pain. In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, which depicts a time of panic, false accusation, and wrongful executions , all caused by one thing fear is present in everyone’s life at some time or another in the story. The feeling of fear overall plays a very important role in everyone’s life in the play. In a puritan society, in which reputation plays such an important role, the fear of guilt by affiliation becomes decidedly harmful. Knowing this townsfolk of Salem must fear that the sins of their friends will stain their names.
English III AP 9/30/13 The Monster in Salem In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a town where people saw the devil lurking behind every corner and the reason behind all misfortunes being the result of some sin, when the cry of witchcraft rung through the town via the lips of Abigail Williams people were more than willing to believe that the devil was alive in Salem. Although there were so many individuals in the play who contributed to the Witchcraft hysteria, Abigail Williams is the main cause of this insanity. Her selfishness, her greediness, and the willingness to do anything to stay out of trouble, causes her to become top 10 female villains in literature in history. The following essay will discuss how the evil,