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Downfall Of Salem In The Crucible

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The Downfall of Salem

In this world there are many different types of people such as those who follow and those who lead. The Crucible by Arthur Miller has four different categories of people; the liars, the power-mongering, the rebellious and the ignorant. The play is used to display the conflicts of the Salem Witch Trials with these four factions constantly opposing each other. Only to discover who is in the confines of the Devil’s keep and who is under the will of God. Yet, many dark motives spin the town of Salem, Massachusetts on its head such as greed, hatred and debauchery. One of the reasons for Salem’s inevitable downfall is how the author uses liars to rip the town apart. These liars are declared witches by the court and have their …show more content…

A good example of these two sides of people in Salem in John Proctor who begins to drift between trying to help those he believes innocent and saving his own soul from death. Towards the end of the play he begins to become frantic in his actions stating that they are all doomed. “For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud - God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together! ( Miller, 120) Proctor quickly loses all faith within the court, foreshadowing his imminent hanging for trying to speak the truth in a town that was damned from the start. All of these characters cause this damnation of Salem from the most villainous to those attempting to be righteous in their admissions. Sadly, those who hold power, lie and speak the truth work hand in hand with hatred and secrecy to destroy them all. Within the Crucible Henry Miller is highlighting how the conflicts of different factions of society can ruin even the best intentions. Damning us all to our foolhardiness which allows evil to fester not only in those who lie but even in the last minute liberators who try to save us from the hell-hole we managed to dig ourselves

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