The Crucible by Arthur Miller: The Meaning of Truth and Judgment
The Meaning of Truth and Judgment
In society, truth has no meaning because people in numbers, rule and come together, only believing what they want to believe. Great strength in numbers is a key factor in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. What the townspeople of Salem said, always went. There is no arguing and no deciding. If someone was accused or judged as being a witch, they were most like condemned for being one.
The definition of judgment is the formation of an opinion (Encarta Encyclopedia, p 156). It is a simple definition, clear and direct. Although there is more to judgment than meets the eye. Consider the word opinion. What does opinion mean? An opinion is described as a belief or conclusion that is held without substantial proof (Encarta Encyclopedia, p 207). Biased opinions were put out throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts back in the late 1600's during the witch scare. Opinions and judgments, not the truth, were all that anything was based on during the trials. Society believed what they wanted to, even if they had doubts, because that was the general consensus of the whole entire town. They could not stand out and disagree for fear of being accused of working for the Devil as well even though they knew it was not the truth. Knowing this, they still made these assumptions, which led to uproar in the towns and villages and even death.
Making a judgment or assumption on somebody may seem harmless, but it can also be extremely destructive. The citizens of Salem made judgments on their neighbors, forming opinions that they might be witches. Those solitary judgments led to many peoples' deaths. Their assumptions were wrong, however. All these aspects proved how peoples' poor judgment, lack of truth, and following what people want you to believe led to hysteria and tragedy in the community of Salem.
Many people in the town of Salem knew the truth, but because they could not stand up for the truth, they went along with the foolish stories and
In society, truth has no meaning because people in numbers, rule and come together, only believing what they want to believe. Great strength in numbers is a key factor in The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. What the townspeople of Salem said, always went. There is no arguing and no deciding. If someone was accused or judged as being a witch, they were most like condemned for being one.
The definition of judgment is the formation of an opinion (Encarta Encyclopedia, p 156). It is a simple definition, clear and direct. Although there is more to judgment than meets the eye. Consider the word opinion. What does opinion mean? An opinion is described as a belief or conclusion that is held without substantial proof (Encarta Encyclopedia, p 207). Biased opinions were put out throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts back in the late 1600's during the witch scare. Opinions and judgments, not the truth, were all that anything was based on during the trials. Society believed what they wanted to, even if they had doubts, because that was the general consensus of the whole entire town. They could not stand out and disagree for fear of being accused of working for the Devil as well even though they knew it was not the truth. Knowing this, they still made these assumptions, which led to uproar in the towns and villages and even death.
Making a judgment or assumption on somebody may seem harmless, but it can also be extremely destructive. The citizens of Salem made judgments on their neighbors, forming opinions that they might be witches. Those solitary judgments led to many peoples' deaths. Their assumptions were wrong, however. All these aspects proved how peoples' poor judgment, lack of truth, and following what people want you to believe led to hysteria and tragedy in the community of Salem.
Many people in the town of Salem knew the truth, but because they could not stand up for the truth, they went along with the foolish stories and