In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, a prominent conflict that ensues is the community versus power seekers. The story takes place at a time when people are living in a very closely knit community based on Puritan principles, and, consequently, prone to intolerance towards opposition or dissent. Not to mention, the whole town is involved, not simply one family whose drama might be representative of the plight of the community. In addition, such a rigid society implies that any form of individuality is considered dangerous. With a society this controlling, community members are more likely to act out and pursue personal interests.
Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed.
The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story based off of a lot of main characters and scenes. The story itself is based off the salem witch trials hence the story is in the town of salem. The three categories of this story was mass hysteria where people believe things and all join in. Group think is how people together make decisions based on ideas in the group.
When people are placed under an intense feeling of fear, they begin to commit actions they never thought they were capable over. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a young group of girls commit witchcraft which eventually leads to the arrest of over 100 women. This is similar to a time in the 1950s when Joseph McCarthy accuses government officials of communism and that ultimately leads to hundreds of citizens losing their jobs. The Crucible reveals the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690s and McCarthyism of the 1950s because it demonstrates how a society can be tremendously impacted by the feeling the fear.
In Arthur Miller's “The Crucible” (1953), it is shown that people seem to forget basic morals when dealing with mass hysteria. Puritans in the play do not want the devil or any other demonic figures such as witches in their community, they will go to great lengths, as far as turning their back on their own people to get rid of these demonic figures as shown in “The Crucible”. This idea of witches in the community caused chaos in the village which led to the deaths of 20 people in the village. Do people in the play not care about the consequences other people face because of their actions? In the play, loyalty falls far below self selfishness in the face of mass hysteria.
Fear pushes people to do bad things, to better themselves, and to keep them safe. But sometimes this makes it worse for people around. Throughout history, there were many driving forces on what people had feared. This was through mass hysteria. In the story, “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, he was able to show this fear and hysteria being his driving force.
Human is a species that live in group, and conformity is one of the distinct characteristic of human nature. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller investigates various natures in community throughout Act 1 and 2. The play took place at Salem, a town that primarily based on puritanism, the major plot of this play is about witchcraft and witch hunt. Miller conveys a essential message of people always search for conformity from society as a form to prove their identity, further, any rebellion would consider as outcast from majority. The author explores the theme by the use of conflict, this literary element best demonstrates changes of characterizations and complication between others and internal struggle.
More than 20 people were executed during the Salem Witch Trials between 1692 and 1693. The play The Crucibles written by Arthur Miller a historical fiction piece based on the Salem Witch Trials. The play shows the struggles of a small town with a big controversy with mob mentality and justice themes throughout the play. Mob Mentality or otherwise called Cult Mentality which is describing humans that have been influenced by their peers around them and move together as a whole or “herd”, they adopt such behaviors from the others apart of their group. Mob Mentality is shown in multiple parts of The Crucibles examples are when the girls are all dancing together in the woods taking part in the so called ritual which happens to be very much out
The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are two stories that are based on mass hysteria and public shaming. Both stories and their topics are what helped to shape America’s early identity. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held grudges”. This shows that there is mass hysteria in the story based on the quotation and its explain why people have mass hysteria or why they do it. A group of teenage girls is discovered dancing naked in the woods by the town minister.
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.
The never-ending sway of human nature Bloody cheers fill the street, glazing the air with a fervor rarely seen: the witch hunt has begun. In Arthur Miller’s gripping tale titled The Crucible, he retells the story of the Salem witch trials - all while twisting truths to make the events fit into what was occurring in the present. But what he had written as a showcase of the madness ensuing at the time of writing, the themes present within still hold a flame within events happening today. In short, the Crucible details the events of the trials held for the 'witches' – beginning with the girls who got caught dancing in the woods.
Communism—culminated in public hysteria over internal communist threats, efforts to contain communism, brinkmanship, advancement races, and other issues. Anything remotely socialist was marked as suspicious, and the public began to suspect not only one another but the government. Author Miller illustrates how logical fallacies create mass hysteria and cloud a society’s judgment; this is seen throughout the Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible and in times of history, such as the Red Scare. The logical fallacy called faulty causality—falsely assuming the correlation between two events—creates baseless accusations and paranoia within the public during times of crisis. In The Crucible, Abigail uses the dangers of faulty causality to deceive the public.
Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.
We all know peer pressure can make you do things, But Arthur Miller’s The Crucible shows us the extremes of social pressure and how it can make us do things we would never have thought of doing. One of the major themes in The Crucible is that popular belief causes you to act and operate differently than you would normally. Some examples of this is Mary’s behavior, the girls fainting, and Proctors struggle to not confess. One of the main examples of someone giving in to social pressure is when Mary Warren decides to convict Proctor and say he is working with the devil.
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.
