Why I Wrote The Crucible Essay

In his article, "Why I Wrote The Crucible," Arthur Miller speaks of the 1950's "which nobody seems to remember clearly"- a time of fearful insanity and unrest. Anyone could be accused. Showing excessive opposition ensured prosecution. Most shrunk back from disputing the McCarthy hearings for fear of their safety. Now, this period of panic is viewed as absurd. As Miller describes Hitler as being almost comical to his generation, the modern generation sees the Salem witch trials as foolish scuffles between ignorant people. The actual events were much different as perceived. Just as a feud with a neighbor seems trivial to those not involved but of intense frustration to the embroiled , the trials were not silly and insignificant. The trials were
Her husband and her children pulled her from her common grave and buried her at their home. Shortly after her death, Rebecca's sister, Mary Estey, was hanged. Miller touches upon a few of these events in The Crucible, enough to develop Rebecca as a saintly minor character who draws pity from the audience.
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<br>In his opening notes, Miller informs the reader that the play was written more to convey the general fear a witch-hunt instills in members of a society than to tell the history of the Salem witch trials. It is for this reason that Miller did not include the vast wealth of information on Rebecca's life- such an account is for history books, not plays meant to entertain as well as prove a point. He wrote of Rebecca to produce a character the audience can feel sympathy for. Her overall air is kindly- her tolerance for Salem's inhabitants even during the witch-hunt, her love for her husband, even her description of children warms the heart: "A child's spirit is like a child, you can never catch it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for love, it will soon itself come back." Her death is the nadir of the integrity of the courts; the murder of an innocent woman based on hearsay and