The Crucible - Setting Essay
Don Sinclair
“The Setting that is most accessible to the reader is the one that is grounded in realism.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond with close references to texts you have studied.
The setting of Salem, Massachusetts in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a setting that is accessible and relevant to the reader, as it is grounded in realism. Although it is different from our society, it did once exist, and therefore helps us understand what can happen in a fear based society. The theocratic setting is grounded in realism and Miller uses this to warn us that history repeats it’s self, and may do so again, as similar events happened in America in the 1950’s.
Miller uses Salem 1692 to show us some of the implications of living in a fear based society, like having a good name. In a fear based society, nobody is automatically trusted, everyone is judged by their name. John Proctor has had a good name his whole life in the village of Salem. However when he has information that could prove Abigail is not as good as she appears, he is conflicted between confessing that he had an affair with her and ruining his good name, or watching people he knows are innocent be convicted and keeping quiet. He does not want to “blacken” his name in the village. So he keeps the information to himself about the affair until it is too late, and nobody will believe him because his name is no longer good. This shows that having a good name was so important in this society that you would risk your friends being convicted of witchcraft to keep your name ‘white’. Toward the end, when Proctor is about to confess to witchcraft, he refuses to sign away his name “you have taken my soul, leave me my name!” He yells, and from this we see there is nothing more important to him. Similarly, Judge Danforth is fixated on having a good name. We see this when he is not willing to postpone John Proctor’s hanging. He knows that John could be innocent, but if he postpones the
“The Setting that is most accessible to the reader is the one that is grounded in realism.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond with close references to texts you have studied.
The setting of Salem, Massachusetts in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a setting that is accessible and relevant to the reader, as it is grounded in realism. Although it is different from our society, it did once exist, and therefore helps us understand what can happen in a fear based society. The theocratic setting is grounded in realism and Miller uses this to warn us that history repeats it’s self, and may do so again, as similar events happened in America in the 1950’s.
Miller uses Salem 1692 to show us some of the implications of living in a fear based society, like having a good name. In a fear based society, nobody is automatically trusted, everyone is judged by their name. John Proctor has had a good name his whole life in the village of Salem. However when he has information that could prove Abigail is not as good as she appears, he is conflicted between confessing that he had an affair with her and ruining his good name, or watching people he knows are innocent be convicted and keeping quiet. He does not want to “blacken” his name in the village. So he keeps the information to himself about the affair until it is too late, and nobody will believe him because his name is no longer good. This shows that having a good name was so important in this society that you would risk your friends being convicted of witchcraft to keep your name ‘white’. Toward the end, when Proctor is about to confess to witchcraft, he refuses to sign away his name “you have taken my soul, leave me my name!” He yells, and from this we see there is nothing more important to him. Similarly, Judge Danforth is fixated on having a good name. We see this when he is not willing to postpone John Proctor’s hanging. He knows that John could be innocent, but if he postpones the