Theme Of Courage In The Crucible

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Within the pages of the epic novel The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the three characters Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor, and Giles Corey are all driven by deep seated courage. Each of these three characters, were driven by their courage to fight authority when they believed it to be in the wrong. Rebecca Nurse’s great courage drives her throughout the novel. In the first act her courage drives her to challenge Mr. Putnam’s belief that the afflicted girls were possessed. She assesses the situation to the best of her abilities and comes to the conclusion that the girls are merely pretending to be possessed. Rebecca being a woman and a weaker member of society should, in all respects, bow to Mr. Putnam, but she does not. She draws…show more content…
His ideals and morals are supported by this courage. His courage can be seen in the first act as he stands strong against Thomas Putnam, a prominent figure within the community. Giles refuses to buckle. Unfortunately his courage did not become a benefit to him. This denouncement of Mr. Putnam brought down an accusation upon his wife. He then stands strong against the court and brings forth a deposition, written by him, to help him free his wife. Contained within this deposition was the testimony of an unnamed individual within the community pointing out Thomas Putnam’s malicious motives to accuse his neighbors of witchcraft and buy their land after they had had there land auctioned off by the local government. Danforth then turns to Giles and asks who this person was. With the knowledge that this innocent man would then be accused of witchcraft as well, the courageous Giles refuses to reveal this innocent man’s name. This direct defiance of the court took great courage, but lead to an accusation against him. He sacrificed himself for another, and there is no greater sacrifice. Believing that he would not get a fair trial, Giles decides to not plead “aye” or “nay” against the charges brought before him. He did this so that his land could be passed to his children, but the way they make accused individuals plead is by placing large rocks upon them until they plead. He suffered for two full days with only three mouthfuls of bread and water. While this unspeakable torture forced his eyes to be push from his head and his bones to break he did not cry out. The only words he spoke were, “more weight,” until he finally died at noon on the third day. The courage taken to withstand such horrible torment is unspeakable. This man’s strength and courage can not be found on a tree, it is a deep seated courage which is too deep to be measured and too vast to be

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