Examples Of Courage In The Crucible

"The Crucible" Theme Essay
Courage

Truly courage played an important role in the Salem Witch Trials, and it may have been one of the key reasons the gruesome Salem Witch Trials finally came to its end. The courage shown by people impacted others during this time period by forcing people to acknowledge their viewpoints, which led to the end of the trials. Courage was displayed in three ways, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Emotional courage means showing courage without physical means and being courageous with words and felling. Physical courage means to be courageous with action. Lastly, spiritual courage means to be courageous in the sense that one shows courage in spirit, meaning courage shown indirectly, unlike emotional or
One of the main people to show his courage was John Proctor. John Proctor soon became widely known to be against the Trials through his acts. For example, when the court claimed the Elizabeth might have had hidden poppets for witchcraft, John was furious and physically tried to stop them from taking Elizabeth for questioning. In the text on page 1247, he furiously said, "I'll tell you what's walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant's vengeance! I'll not give my wife to vengeance!" This quote showed that Proctor was disagreeing with the court, and emphasized it by trying to prevent Elizabeth from being taken away. Also, even though Abigail was a girl, she showed physical courage as well, which was uncommon for women to show in the Puritan society. On page 1219 she says, "Speak nothin' of it in the village, Susanna. I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you . . .. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!" This showed that she was being physically courageous because if
Spiritual courage could be described as indirect courage shown by people. Many people were frightened by the court and risked being accused of witchcraft if they displayed emotional or physical courage. Therefore, they displayed spiritual courage, which was still dangerous and still led to the courts anger. For example, Mary Warren displayed spiritual courage when she disobeyed Abigail's orders, as shown on p 1256. Proctor says, "Your honor my wife never kept no poppets. Mary Warren confess it was her popper." When Mary Warren confessed it was her poppet, and not Elizabeth's, she was indirectly, or spiritually, being courageous because she was contradicting Abigail's story, which was very dangerous due to Abigail's power in the Trials. Another example of spiritual courage was displayed by several people signing a paper against the Trials. Although Giles was the one at the most risk because he was the one presenting the paper to Danforth, the judge, the people who signed the paper were showing spiritual courage because they indirectly were opposing the court. They were still in danger because although Giles assured them that he would not reveal their names, Giles was forced to hand over the list as shown on page 1251. Giles says, "Mr. Danforth, I gave them all my word no harm would come to them for signing this." This quote shows that