Why I Wrote the Crucible

453 Words2 Pages
Quote One: “It is only a slight exaggeration to say that, especially in Latin America, "The Crucible" starts getting produced wherever a political coup appears imminent, or a dictatorial regime has just been overthrown.” (Miller, pg 5) This quote is saying how “The Crucible” is interpreted differently by all the new political regimes. One second it is about the Puritans, and then the next it is about the Communists. The play started out to be a story about Puritans and witchcraft. However, the meaning of the play has been shifted throughout time and seems to be different with the different events happening in the world. This quote was saying that whenever something significant had happened, politically speaking, there would be an outbreak of “The Crucible” books being produced. People would read on what might happen and interpret it to their situation. Whenever a sudden and violent political action is about to take place, “The Crucible” becomes even more famous, with different situations comes different interpretations. Quote Two: “For some, the play seems to be about the dilemma of relying on the testimony of small children accusing adults of sexual abuse, something I'd not have dreamed of forty years ago. For others, it may simply be a fascination with the outbreak of paranoia that suffuses the play—the blind panic that, in our age, often seems to sit at the dim edges of consciousness. Certainly its political implications are the central issue for many people;the Salem interrogations turn out to be eerily exact models of those yet to come in Stalin's Russia, Pinochet's Chile, Mao's China, and other regimes.” (pp 5-6) This quote talks about the many different ways people think of the book to be. Some people believe it is a testimony of children accusing adults of sexual abuse, some think it may be a fascination with the outbreak of paranoia that gradually
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