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Examples Of Light Vs Dark In The Crucible

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You got accused for doing supernatural activities. The court deems you as guilty for performing witchcraft. The judge says that the consequence for disrespecting God is a hanging. Utter shock and confusion is etched on your face as the ruling of the court is unfair and inhumane. The court gives you two choices: confess your participation in witchcraft or die behind the noose in front of the whole village. Would you die or confess? The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play was inspired by a historical event called the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible’s main protagonist is John Proctor. The other characters are Reverend Parris, Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams, Betty, Mary Warren, Danforth, …show more content…

In Puritan society, lightness represents truth and honesty. Although, darkness represents dishonesty and the Devil. Reverend Hale is a local expert on witchery and traces down evil spirits. He came as a desperate measure for Reverend Parris’s ill daughter, Betty. She hasn’t woken up, and people are suspecting that she is exposed to an evil spirit. Hale comes to John and Elizabeth Proctor’s house to have a talk, and get to know the people in the village. Hale reveals to Proctor that he’s heard Proctor “holds no beliefs that there may even be witches in the world,” (Miller 66). Light vs dark connects to the Salem Witch Trials because those who were “light” as in people who who believe in God fought the people who perform witchcraft which is “dark.” In the Salem Witch Trials, the court hangs those that perform witchcraft. According to Puritan society, witchcraft is a sin because it goes against God. Thus, the community unravels because the divide between the “light” and the “dark” causes them to always attack each other. Additionally, Miller utilizes the motif of light vs dark to prove to the readers the importance of the court system in Puritan society. Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’s niece, and Mary Warren both appear in court because they are testifying against the people who did witchcraft.Elizabeth Proctor explains to …show more content…

Danforth, John Proctor, and Giles Corey are in court. Giles is trying to bail his wife out of jail because feels she was wrongfully accused. Danforth promises to get rid of all evil so “we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world,” (Miller 87). Puritan society doesn’t tolerate people who they believe go against God. Danforth, the judge of the Salem Witch Trials, feels like it’s responsibility to purify the town by hanging the toxicities. Therefore, anyone accused of witchcraft goes to jail and is sent be hanged. Thus, this connects to the Salem Witch Trials because the court would persecute people who went against their laws. In addition, Miller uses intolerance in Act 3 to prove what Puritans view is the highest in their village. Giles Corey introduces himself in front of Judge Danforth. Giles defends Martha, his wife, to release her from jail. Giles said that “they”, as in Abigail, is lying about his wife, Danforth, offended, said,”This is the highest court of the supreme government of this province..” (Miller 79). Danforth took Giles distrust in the court seriously. Intolerance is evident in Danforth’s words because when Giles said the court is lying, which isn’t something Puritans believe, Danforth quickly contradicted Giles’s words. He did this by stating how

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Another viewpoint, maybe that Judge Danforth was just trying to get the Salem witch trials to blow by quicker, but if this was true, he would´ve accepted John Proctor´s evidence showing that the girls were just playing tricks them. This would make the witch hysteria go away much quicker. Instead, he benefits himself by letting the Salem witch trials live longer. If Danforth was a good Judge he would not have acted so adamant and did his job as a judge to interpret the

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The people who preside over the trials are corrupt. People who were accused of witchcraft are wrongfully indicted, and those transgressions must be justified. Danforth is the governor of Massachusetts who thinks of himself as a fair man. Thomas Putnam who has grudges against the people of Salem, and Abigail is a shameless liar who leads the accusations against the people of Salem. What the people of Salem have seen as demonic possessions of the girls is nothing more than an act of deception.

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In the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller takes place in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials and it shows an abundant amount of examples of how puritans are not pure. Arthur Miller has made many detailed characters that showed how being a pure Puritan is not capable of a human. One of these characters is John Proctor, John is an average person in this time period just living his Puritan life; but is broken by a horrible sight in the woods. John Proctor also has a wife named Elizabeth, and she had her life changed greatly shortly after breaking news was passed throughout the village. The main cause to this news was caused by a housekeeper of John Proctor named Abigail Williams; Abby was caught dancing in the woods with other girls performing spells and witchcraft.

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The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.

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“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Act I, 160). She was the first person in the play to accuse a person of seeing people summon spirits of the Devil. This caused a massive, wide-scale witch hunt to take place; families torn apart, mothers, fathers, and even children murdered for what was considered to be the greater good. Now, others began to accuse people of witchcraft and people who had been lifelong friends to each other now had no choice other than to point fingers at each other or be put to death. Widespread panic and unreasonable action was sweeping through everyone in Salem, all because of a little lie by

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So what this entails is: you either tell the truth and deny that you have anything to do with witchcraft and be hung or tell a lie, which is a sin, and go to jail for an extended period of time.  Those accused of witchcraft are put in front of those who have accused them and the judges and do not get to plead a case.   But this was not a big problem before a group of girls started to tell

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