FREE ESSAY ON THE CRUCIBLE

THE CRUCIBLE

The trumped-up witch hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts, deteriorated the rational, and
emotional stability of its citizens. This exploited the populations weakest qualities,
and insecurities. The obvious breakdown in Salem's social order led to the tragedy which
saw twenty innocent people hung on the accusation of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, author of
The Crucible, used hysteria to introduce personality flaws in vulnerable characters. A
rigid social system, fear, and confusion were evident conditions that became prevalent
before and during the witchtrials. These conditions only contributed to the tragedy in
Salem.
The isolation of the Puritan society created a rigid social system that did not allow for
any variation in lifestyle. The strict society that was employed at this time had a
detrimental effect on the Proctor family. John Proctor, a hard working farmer who had a
bad season the year before and struggling this year was occasionally absent at Sunday
service. This was due to the fact he needed to tend to his crops. Also, Proctor did not
agree with the appointment of Mr. Parris as the newest minister, and therefore did not
have his last child baptized. With the latest craze of witchery and swirling accusations,
John Proctor was easily indicted of being a messenger for the devil by the testimony of
his disillusioned servant Mary Warren, who in the past committed perjury. The court who
heard the testimony easily accepts it because she is a church going person, while John
Proctor slightly deviates from the norm. This transfer of blame is also noticeable when
the truth is first discovered about what the girls were doing in the woods. The girls
were not blamed. The blame was put on Tituba, the black slave who was said to have
charmed the girls. Abigail swears that she [Tituba] made me do it.(pg.40) It is obvious
that in the Puritan society that whatever did not conform to what the masses had decided
as proper, then the deviated, but innocent, were to blame. This practice contributed to
the tragedy in Salem.
The fear of what was unknown created an uneasiness within Salem's population that added
to Salem's social demise. The circumstances surrounding the witchtrials gave residents
something to blame the supernatural on. The condemning of Tituba was mainly due to this.
When Tituba took the girls into the woods, and they performed their ceremony, something
the Puritans were not accustom to, she convicted of witchery. Along with Tituba, Martha
Corey was indicted solely because she would not allow Giles to read them. Giles also
stated that I tried and tried and could not say my prayers. And then she close her book
and walks out of the house, and suddenly--mark this--I could pray again!(pg.38) This
evidence of witchery is preposterous. The only thing that is true is that Giles was not
allowed to read the books, and because he did not what the books contained, he feared
them. This type of reaction throughout the community to the supernatural, and what was
not known indicted many people, and contributed to the tragedy in Salem.
The state of mass confusion in Salem created a society of individuals who were only
concerned with what was good for them, so that they would not be the next one implicated
in the witchery scandal. This situation is clearly evident after Hale becomes privy to
the true story of what happened in the woods. Abigail abandons Tituba, and accuses her of
sending her spirit on me in church; she makes me laugh at prayer(pg.41), and Abigail also
says Tituba comes to me every night to go and drink blood[devil's blood](pg.41). Abigail
reacts like this only to save her from being suspected of witchery. At the end of Scene
One, many community members are accused of consorting with the devil. These names were
given by all of the girls present that took part in the ritual in the woods, in an
attempt to return to the graces of God and to be declared bewitched. This was a common
reaction that many had when accused of witchery.It led to confrontations which pitted
neighbor versus neighbor and husband versus wife. The delirium which created this
situation aided in the misfortune proceedings in Salem.
The evident destruction of Salem's social order was due to rigid stipulations on
deviation, fear of the unknown, and mass confusion. These conditions left Salem
susceptible to an apparent epidemic such as witchcraft. The susceptibility that Salem
fell victim to, was the cause of a great tragedy which saw twenty townspeople hung at the
hands of the state. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is a story of a great
catastrophe which highlights a free man's courageous and never-ending fight against mass
pressures to make him bow down in conformity(intro.-x) and shows how hysteria can be used
for evil purposes in an atmosphere were there is a belief in freedom and right of
dissent.
Bibliography
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