ipl-logo

Comparing Fear In The Crucible And The Sinner

686 Words3 Pages

Fear has the power to impact our actions and measures taken to ensure tranquility. The Crucible and Edward’s Sinners, both take place in a Puritan place where religion is the number one priority. The Puritans were a group of english reformed protestants, who moved migrated to America to avoid the restrictions on their religion in England. Religion is a sacred and very important concept of the way the Puritans live their lives. The power struggle between God and the devil is clearly showcased in the Crucible and in Sinners. The Sinners, by Jonathan Edwards, and the Crucible, by Arthur Miller, as Abigail controls members of her Puritan society and Edwards controls members of the townspeople he talks to. Abigail and Edwards control members of …show more content…

Once Abigail was caught in the forest by Parris she immediately went into a frightful panic at her fate the next day. She told Betty blatantly, “Betty, you never say that again!’ ‘Shut it! Shut it”(Miller 19)! Betty is being controlled by the crushing power of fear on Abigail 's back. No matter what Abagail will not get into trouble with Parris, so she resorts to lies, and threats meant to keep what happened in the forest a secret. Thus, Abigail keeps everyone in line by creating slanders about them that compromise their character, to where she will seem correct in any argument against her. Likewise, fear controls Mary Warren to turn on John Proctor. Warren, accused of witchcraft, abruptly exclaims, “ ‘I’ll murder you,’ he says, ‘if my wife hangs! We must overthrow the court”(Miller 119). Death can be the greatest fear, as in the Puritan days, being accused of witchcraft meant death. In order to save her own skin, Warren turns on Proctor and accuses him of controlling her to overthrow the court. This slander is completely made up, but at that time the court will believe anything the victim has to say according to Danforth, and the Mary Warren has justified herself as a victim when accusing Proctor. Fear as seen in the Crucible plays a major part in controlling members of their Puritan society, to create accusations and slander towards people influencing drastic measures and actions.

The Crucible

Show More
Related
512 Words | 3 Pages

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.

Read More
794 Words | 4 Pages

Abigail, despite being close friends with Betty and Mary implies that she would hurt them if they said anything she didn 't agree with to anyone. This, among many of Abigail’s behavior in the story, shows that people will abandon the morals they have

Read More
1199 Words | 5 Pages

Telling the truth may seem like the right path to take, but in the Puritans’ society it leads to nothing but consequences. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, reasoning and logic play a huge role in the society’s fear and paranoia. Proctor, Hale, and Giles are the main characters who have reasonable explanations for the chaos that has occurred. John Proctor is one of few characters that maintains valid logic towards the people’s fear and paranoia. In the beginning, Proctor gets in a dispute over whether Tituba, Sarah, and numerous others have dealt with the devil or not.

Read More
1112 Words | 5 Pages

Based on the tragic events of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, The Crucible is a hard-hitting tale that reflects upon the subjectivity of goodness and virtue, sparking the reflection of the importance of moral behavior during times of hardship and crisis. In an unyielding and restricted Puritan community like Salem village, a bad reputation could result in social exclusion and scorning from the community. As a result, many members of the community would go to extremes to avoid tarnishing their reputations. The Crucible asserts that those who are concerned only with protecting their standings are dangerous to a society, as they are willing to blame and hurt other people in order to protect themselves.

Read More
634 Words | 3 Pages

What is fear? Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief of someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat. In my own words fear is a feeling people get when someone is going to kill them. But not all fear is bad because some people feel fear differently How is fear used in “The Crucible” ?

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for turning to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By blaming on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power through the Puritans restoring to involve him whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age; although the natural deciding factor of one’s power in the Puritan society is land, the Devil himself holds ultimate power. Despite the fact that he does not appear as a human figure, he controls the thoughts and actions of the Puritan society, serving as the ultimate threat.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

Girl what ails you? Girl what ails you? Stop that wailing!” (1.1 620-621). John Proctor is saying that Abigail is crying out in nonsense to protect her by making people think she was cast over by witches rather people finding out about the adultery that she committed .

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.

Read More
565 Words | 3 Pages

In The Crucible, threatening other characters is a perfect example of how an individual is able to maintain power through spreading fear. During the first act, Abigail

Read More
1069 Words | 5 Pages

Power, the ability to maintain control, command, or authority over others can often be determined by one’s reputation and his or her persuasiveness. This principle is displayed within The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, in which follows the town of Salem, Massachusetts attempting to navigate through a “Witchcraft” outbreak supposedly lead by the Devil. Within such a theocratic society such as Salem, the Devil is often associated with death, fear, and uncertainty. While his name alone is often believed to be able to influence others in to following through in certain actions. The Devil, as a key figure behind the immense “witchcraft” occurring in Salem, is crafted by Miller as the most influential “character” due to his infamous reputation and his ability to control characters’ actions.

Read More
724 Words | 3 Pages

Research Essay Fear can occur when a person has a feeling of threat or danger and sometimes harm or anxiety for oneself or another. Fear can often influence a person to take extreme measures and act irrationally. For instance there are a number of parallels between the treatment of of the accused during the Salem Witch Trials and the treatment of Muslims after 9/11 ; In both cases, people were being belittled and downgrading, and society was in a state of grief and shock and it all resulted in discrimination of the accused. Almost each person in Salem wanted vengeance for various reasons due to that people who were accused of witchcraft were constantly belittled and did not have a fair chances during the trials In Salem.

Read More
628 Words | 3 Pages

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.

Read More
561 Words | 3 Pages

The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
962 Words | 4 Pages

  After this, Mary Warren, who is John Proctors maid, very breathlessly tells Abigail “Abby, we’ve got to tell.  Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two years ago!  We must tell the truth, Abby!  You’ll only be whipped for dancin’, and the other things!”

Read More

More about Comparing Fear In The Crucible And The Sinner

Related Topics

Open Document