Imagine patiently waiting in an airplane, waiting to reach your destination. Suddenly, the main controls for the aircraft fail and fellow passengers are aimlessly trying to figure out what to do and fearing for their lives. As months grew closer to the year 2000, people all around the world had the same exact thought. The Y2K event was an early millennial technological fear that was thought to be the end of all computers and digital devices all throughout the world. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible depicts an event with a similar theme of fear and panic, The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials was a horrific time in history of mass accusations of friends accusing friends as witches and devil worshippers which led to the deaths of about …show more content…
The Y2K event and the Salem Witch Trials are both examples of mass hysteria through addressing a perceived threat which led to irrational behavior and societal panic. The Y2K conspiracy and Salem Witch Trials created widespread panic because of the lack of knowledge people had on both situations. At the time of Y2K, the knowledge of computers was still fresh and new to people's heads. It was only in 1981 when the first portable computer came out. An article from 1998 predicted that “Very soon, however, we will be in the 21st century, but many older computers won’t know it. They will read “00” as “1900,” not “2000” (Y2K Special Report). With this, the lack of knowledge was proven to aid the Y2K conspiracy theories with people not knowing what they were exactly talking about. People believed what they thought would happen with little to no research going into any of their theories and told other people the same false news. This false negative news on what would happen would only lead to the flame of panic being fanned and increase the spread of false information at the time. Adding to the point, in The Crucible, Ann Putnam believes that it is the work of the devil that seven of her children die so very early in their lives. She does not …show more content…
The article explains what type of people are involved in the Y2K event. It separates people in the event as survivalists and the undisturbed. The article argues that “At the other are survivalists who are stockpiling food, water and guns in remote fortresses where they plan to weather the crisis” (Allan 1). People prepared for what they thought was an upcoming apocalypse by stockpiling food, water, and guns. In the scenario where people would feel their lives are in such danger, there has to be a sense of fear or concern that is making them act the way they are. This article was written in 1998, two years before the event occurred. This date is significant because it shows the readers at the time how their everyday peers were acting and gives them an idea of how they should act as well. Furthermore, in The Crucible, John Proctor takes Mary Warren to the court to testify against Abigail and reveal all her lies. Mary is trying her hardest to compose herself but Abigail puts on an act to deceive the court. “I believe him! (Pointing at Abigail) This girl has always struck me false! She has-- (Abigail, with a weird, wild, chilling cry, screams up to the ceiling.)” (Miller). Mary is telling Danforth that John Proctor is innocent and that Abigail is full of lies and deceit. As a reaction to Mary telling the truth, Abigail screams
The Salem witch trials managed to kill many innocent people. These “mobs” or groups of people would convince each other that the person or people that were on trials were guilty. This is comparable to times in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy had accused certain politicians and people serving the government at that time of practicing communism. These accusations led to many of them losing their jobs and society status.
Throughout history there have been instances where individuals inflicat chaos to gain their desires. The dramatic play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller was written in the 1950s but takes place in the last 1600s during the Salem witch trials. These trials are notorious for the public hysteria it caused and drew out. Due to individuals greed and deception many innocent were accussed and sentenced to death for witch craft. This only subsisted the hysteria and caused several unjust deaths.
For the marvelous and supernatural murder of Goody Putnam's babies.” throughout the whole story of The Crucible Abigail Williams makes false accusations upon other people in the town of Salem for reasons we will get to later.
Fear—“a darkroom where negatives develop”(Asif). People in history are bound by fear, so great that it causes mass hysterias. As portrayed in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials brought fear to everyone of being accused of being a witch. Everyone is afraid of being accused of being a witch, so people started to accuse each other. Just like the hysteria in the Salem Witch Trials, the September Eleventh event occurred when a plane crashed into the Twin Towers by Muslim hijackers.
Thesis/Claim: Mass hysteria is defined as an outbreak of abnormal behavior, thoughts, feelings, or symptoms, usually appearing in large groups. Aurthur Miller uses this phenomena in The Crucible, to show how a small community called Salem, became deeply fixated on the crime of witchcraft. This hysteria drove the village to the point where no one was safe from the possibility of being hanged. This play was set in 1692, but now in the present, we have further research into the phenomenon called mass hysteria, with many theories as to why this occurs. Subtopic 1: Bagus, Philipp, et al. "COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Mass Hysteria."
In act 3 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, who has been a part of Abigail's group of accusers, tries to come forward and tell the truth about the false accusations of witchcraft. She tells the court that they have all been pretending, but Abigail turns on her, and the other girls, who have been following Abigail's lead, begin to mimic Mary's every word and action. Overwhelmed and intimidated by their collective power, Mary recants her statement and joins Abigail and the other girls in accusing John Proctor of being a witch (115-120). This scene shows how the accusers in the play are driven by a sense of fear and irrationality. They have created a narrative about the existence of witches in the community, and they are determined to find and punish them, regardless of whether their accusations are based on evidence or not.
While Mary Warren was trying to explain what had happened, Abigail and the other girls pretended to see a bird and said that Mary was cursing them, dishonestly. ” Oh, Mary, this is black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (224). This is evidence of Abigail being manipulative because it made Mary start to question whether telling the truth was worth it or not. Mary eventually gave up hope and switched sides, accusing John Proctor of being the Devil’s man.
Abigail knows that if she accuses someone, the court and adults will believe her. She feels in charge when accusing since people truly believe her. However, Abigail blames others since she is selfish and self-centered. Judge Danforth takes Abigail and the other girls’ side by stating, “Mary Warren! – Draw back your spirit out of them!’.
Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth.
The crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller which focuses on the inconsistencies of the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior flaws that the people represented during the 1690’s. In the story all the characters lived in a puritan town where several young women were exposed or afflicted to witch craft. These young women decided to accuse people of witch craft in order to save themselves from punishments such as, torture and execution, the people being accused by these girls were usually people that their families didn’t like or have had issues with in the past in order to get them out of the town. The main women to continue the act of accusing innocent people in order to save themselves from punishment was Abigail Williams. Around the same time of these events Abigail had relations with a married man named John proctor.
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
Abigail is aware that Mary-Warren is weak and would struggle to defend herself. In the courtroom, Abigail is lying once again for her own gain with Hale and now Danforth, who is also a ‘judge’. In the scene, she pretends to see Mary on the ceiling as a "bird" tormenting her: "Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop; it's God's work I do" (Miller 115). This proves Abigail has no regard for others.
Humans have been referred to as some of the most psychologically complex beings. In “The Crucible” Arthur Miller ventures into a highly studied subject, how do humans and societies react in times of crisis and panic? Miller bases his story off of the Salem witch trials, in his dramatized version, A small puritan village is struck with mass hysteria after a girl accuses someone of witchcraft. The story of witch trials is added for entertainment, below the surface Miller gradually explores Human Vulnerability, hypocrisy, and vengeance as his story unfolds, using Humans for relatability and understanding. Creating a great example of how humans and societies can crumble, collapse and bottom out under pressure.
Is the death of seven children justification enough to take part in the murders of more than a dozen innocent people? When Ann Putnam, one of the main antagonists in The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, accuses Rebecca Nurse of practicing witchcraft, is this an act of pure insanity or calculated revenge fueled by jealousy? Throughout the play, it is evident that Ann Putnam, who has mysteriously lost seven children, is in denial about her babies’ death and desperate to hold anyone accountable other than herself. She cannot handle the death of her several children being a case of god's will, and so has to something to fill the void. Therefore, she turns to Rebecca Nurse because she helped birth all of Mrs. Putmans babies, who all but one,
Communism was on the brain, and the government and its citizens were trying to put out the fire before it could even begin. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” takes place under very similar circumstances, in a very different time. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693 were just as intense as the 1950’s, the setting was different, “Commies” were exchanged for witches, but hysteria remained a key player. Mass hysteria, like a plant, flourishes under the right conditions. While a plant needs sunlight, air, and water, hysteria needs fear,