Prejudice And Social Norm In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

A single brave voice could have monumental impacts. When victims come together to fight an injustice that has been occurring for too long, power is formed from bravery, from speaking out, from unifying. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, it is evident that the opposite of this overpowered the puritanical town of Salem and ultimately led it to its spiraling into a tragic end. For decades since the events that transpired in Salem, the root cause of the demise of these innocent people has been analyzed by scholars; the darkest traits of human nature are to blame. Since then, various other historical events which mirror the amalgamation of injustice, scapegoats, and revenge of Salem have occured - and are thought to be repeating at the present time.

In its backlash, one of the most commonly used phrases to describe it was a “witch-hunt” against certain men. The two occurrences can be compared in terms of how prejudice and social norms overcame reason, yet not in the sense that they are both “witch-hunts”, for the literal term has become a tool of invalidation in the form of a metaphor to discredit people who come forward to tell their stories of assault.
The repressive nature of the characters in The Crucible, as well as the real Puritans in Salem, is conveyed within Parris’ expression of expectations of children. For instance, he states that “...never conceived that the children were anything but thankful for being permitted to walk straight...and mouths shut until bidden to speak.” (Miller 4.1) As this view was taught for generations and strictly implemented into their small, isolated society, the townspeople’s judgements became clouded to a fatal degree. This was due to the expectation of the young girls to be grateful for even being allowed to “walk straight”, let alone lie and go to drastic lengths - practically indirect murder - to save themselves. The impacts of these

Its power is prominent in The Crucible, throughout history, and particularly in the current explosion of the new age movement against sexual abuse and rape culture. The officer of TUC’s women’s equality and employment rights department, Scarlet Harris, epitomizes this concept in a powerful quote, “There are valid reasons for not reporting, whether you’re Angelina Jolie or working in Tesco’s,...if you’re feeling degraded and humiliated by something in a professional setting, the fact that it happened is objectifying – you almost don’t want people to think of you in that way. Some of the response to Harvey Weinstein, too, has been shocking – not believing women, questioning, ‘Oh what did you think would happen if you went to the hotel room?”’ Harris’ concise analysis shows the societal negativity and shame that comes with voicing one’s story about sexual assault; it can be confining and induce fear. This held and continues to hold back many victims, mirroring the effects of the prejudice in Salem and how it held back Proctor until the very last moment, costing him his life. The power was (and more often than not continues to be) in the hands of the abusers due to a societal culture that disadvantaged the victims. The influence of social media and big names in Hollywood was the catalyst of the #metoo movement, created over a decade ago by activist Tarana Burke. A fresh perspective