He is poking fun at the age old concept of ‘equality,’ one that has inspired wars and movements alike; he accomplishes this by creating a system to make everyone equal, a system that happens to be just as stupid as the idea of ‘total equality.’ Under this system equality is achieved, but it is at the cost of individual freedom and a society full of stupid people, this in-turn creates the situational irony found in the story. The plot of the story itself is a piece of situational irony, however there are many other instances found throughout it, including verbal irony. One specific example of this is when Hazel and George are talking, Vonnegut writes “ ‘I think I’d make a good Handicapper General. (Hazel)’ ‘Good as anybody else,’ said George.” His response to Hazel’s comment is slightly sarcastic, but also ironic, in that she really would be “as good anybody else” because in their society everyone is just as good or bad as everybody else. Another example of this false sense of equality is when George says,
Conflict certainly exposes the true qualities of a person that might have been kept deep inside never to be revealed, however due to the pressure of a bad situation the ‘real’ person is displayed. McCarthyism has been shown in the play “The Crucible”, which was practiced by Abigail. McCarthyism is paranoia and finding scapegoats and blaming innocent people for things they did not do. Many lives were ruined because of this. In the Crucible, Abigail is tormented by the fact that she had been caught out having an affair with John Proctor.
McCarthyism in the 1950’s was the practice of broadcasting allegations of political treachery or rebellion with inadequate regard to evidence. The events that took place in the 1950’s concerning McCarthyism are what inspired Miller to write his play on the Salem witch trials of 1692. The fear of repeating the horrors of the past pushed him to try and open the eyes of those who seemed to be following a dangerous path. The Crucible and McCarthyism both contain instances of false accusation, wrongly gained power, and mass hysteria. Similarly to the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism started in a time of great fear, but instead of fearing witches that made pacts with the Devil, the people of the 1950’s feared communism.
When Abigail was talking to Proctor she says “She is telling lies to about me! She is a cold sniveling woman, and you bend to her!”(Page 15, act one) she is basically showing her jealousy towards his wife. This stirred up the witch trials because Abigail wanted to be with Proctor and she would do just about anything. The fact that John proctor realizes all of his flaws and confesses to all of his sins is another reason why he can be considered a tragic hero. When Proctor had to go to the court to get his wife out of being accused of upholding witchcraft he eventually confess to his sins he committed.
When john takes Mary to the court so she can testify against the girls they think it’s a bit suspicious. When the girls are brought into the court they accuse Mary of bewitching them. John gets fed up and he confesses to his affair with Abigail to prove that she is not a goodly person and that she is jealous of his wife. Elizabeth is brought to the court to prove of what john is saying is true but because of her kindness and her love for her husband she lies to protect his name. Abigail and the girls pretend Mary is bewitching them again which make Mary breakdown and accuse john of being a witch.
The first reason is that because Abigail Williams is extremely manipulative and vindictive. Abigail tries to get Procter to pity her saying, “You loved me, John Proctor, and whatever sin it is, you love me yet! John, pity me, pity me!” (Miller 22). Abigail wants Procter to pity and give her what she wants, regardless that his wife caught them once and can catch them again. Another reason their relationship is dangerous is that if John Procter were to prosecute against Abigail Williams saying that she is in fact a witch, Abigail Williams could very easily tell the entire town that she and Procter have been having an affair to get revenge on him.
If they were innocent they would live and if they were found to be guilty they would be killed. This crates fear as if people were found to be guilty there was nothing you could do and you will be killed. This fear in the court emphasises the fear that Abigail is giving to the girls as what Abigail is doing can also make people die. Presenting Abigail as a powerful
So now we’ll talk about affairs and how people get revenge. In The Crucible, Mr. Proctor had an affair with a young lady. It made John look bad, so he started to ignore Abigail by telling her to leave and that he was mad at her. When she wouldn’t leave he pushed her away. For revenge she accused John’s wife, Liz, of being a witch.
She may have felt guilty as she thought the norms would find out that she killed the man and then they would kill her. David and Petra are the ringleaders in the escape. “If we were to survive, we must keep our true self hidden…” When Petra was drowning, David and Rosalind heard her cries through their minds, which then made them fear more, as people were being suspicious as no-one else heard her. Then they had to fear Petra, as they realized her powers were much too strong for her and she was too young to fully understand it.
The cause of the conflict, his sin of lechery with Abigail destroys his very belief in his own integrity, ‘he is a sinner, a sinner not only against the moral fashion of the time but against his own vision of decent conduct’. The potential for growth is inherent in any theatre of conflict. But that growth can only happen where there is courage and humility and an unswerving commitment to truth. When Elizabeth Proctor is arrested and taken to jail and charged with witchcraft her husband is finally forced to go to Salem to openly declare his adultery in order to discredit Abigail. At this point, there is an almost palpable sense of relief for Proctor, ‘we are as we always were, but naked now, and G-d’s icy wind does blow’, as if something impeding his potential for growth has had last been