The Crucible Essay
The Crucible
Ashley Mizuno
In a time when God ruled the world, those who dissented faced a certain end. Some hold secrets that if discovered, will destroy the very center of all they hold dear. Dancing in the forest, girls who will not wake, secret relationships, and claims of witchcraft all lead to the destruction of a community. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, written during the McCarthy Era, this is exactly what happens. Reverend Parris catches a group of girls dancing in the forest, and the word spread like a cataclysmic conflagration. From then on, denizen of Salem accused each other of witchcraft, claiming that their neighbors are communing with the devil, killing babies, and other ludicrous and unbelievable crimes. As a hurricane gathers wind and celerity, so did the desire to accuse, condemn, and convict. The desire foments the most unbelievable accusations, becoming a mass hysteria. The reactions to the mass hysteria exacerbate the problem.
In The Crucible, religion is woven into everyday life. If you did not follow one of the rules, that can be used as evidence for much greater sin, the exact result for John Proctor. In Salem during the witch trials, to be accused was to be guilty. To be guilty meant death. And the only way to avoid death was to confess. Reputation is the way that other people identify and see you. By being accused, your reputation is on the line. By confessing, you are showing the community that you are no longer with the devil, and you are with God. During the witch trials, hysteria, religion, and reputation are what the people of Salem thrive on. Because of them, the truth gets completely off track and a lot of innocent people are accused and some of them even murdered.
Puritan society demands that its members follow strict rules of social order, centering on a set of clearly states rules: you go to church every Sunday, you do not work on the Sabbath, you believe the Gospel, you respect the minister’s word like it was God’s,
Ashley Mizuno
In a time when God ruled the world, those who dissented faced a certain end. Some hold secrets that if discovered, will destroy the very center of all they hold dear. Dancing in the forest, girls who will not wake, secret relationships, and claims of witchcraft all lead to the destruction of a community. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, written during the McCarthy Era, this is exactly what happens. Reverend Parris catches a group of girls dancing in the forest, and the word spread like a cataclysmic conflagration. From then on, denizen of Salem accused each other of witchcraft, claiming that their neighbors are communing with the devil, killing babies, and other ludicrous and unbelievable crimes. As a hurricane gathers wind and celerity, so did the desire to accuse, condemn, and convict. The desire foments the most unbelievable accusations, becoming a mass hysteria. The reactions to the mass hysteria exacerbate the problem.
In The Crucible, religion is woven into everyday life. If you did not follow one of the rules, that can be used as evidence for much greater sin, the exact result for John Proctor. In Salem during the witch trials, to be accused was to be guilty. To be guilty meant death. And the only way to avoid death was to confess. Reputation is the way that other people identify and see you. By being accused, your reputation is on the line. By confessing, you are showing the community that you are no longer with the devil, and you are with God. During the witch trials, hysteria, religion, and reputation are what the people of Salem thrive on. Because of them, the truth gets completely off track and a lot of innocent people are accused and some of them even murdered.
Puritan society demands that its members follow strict rules of social order, centering on a set of clearly states rules: you go to church every Sunday, you do not work on the Sabbath, you believe the Gospel, you respect the minister’s word like it was God’s,