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Character analysis about the crucible first paragraph
The crucible character analysis
The crucible character analysis
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Thomas Putnam 's loss of inheritance and authority instigates his desire to punish fellow community members. Putnam reveals himself as a "man with many grievances" (13) and shows that his "vindictive nature was demonstrated long before witchcraft began" (14). Prior to the witchcraft trials, Putnam experiences multiple personal conflicts that created a fiery desire for vengeance. These conflicts include the community failing to recognize his land inheritance and selecting Parris as minister over his brother-in-law. Although the alleged perpetrators in these events had little involvement in his diminished stature, Putnam concludes that "his own name and the honor of this family had been smirched by the village", which caused him to "right matters
Throughout history the fear of corruption and change has compelled people to go to drastic measures to prevent it. The Crucible, a play by arthur Miller, is set in an environment of religious citizens who fear that the devil and witchcraft will corrupt their society. Much like The Crucible, McCarthyism caused the citizens in America to fear corruption of the government by communism. Arthur Miller used his play the crucible as a direct response to McCarthyism and through this play Miller writes about the Salem witch trials during the McCarthy period to comment on how history repeats itself. The social and political factors in The Crucible resemble those in America during the red scare and McCarthyism.
In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, passions turned into problems. Witchcraft in Salem Massachusetts became a remembered event since 1692. Three girls were said to have interactions with the devil. When they were confronted about it they denied every interaction the people who were convicted they would say they weren’t a witch and would bring someone else’s name into the equation. Those who would admit to being a witch would go to jail, but for those who denied having interaction with the devil would have been trialed and hung, so really, anyway you put it
One character in The Crucible that shows fear and expectation as a motivation is John Proctor. John Proctor shows fear when Elizabeth displays depression, he wants Elizabeth to trust him that he loves her and does not love Abigail. John tells the court that he committed lechery for a couple reasons. The first is so Elizabeth will trust him again and the second is so that the courts stop believing Abigail. John wants Elizabeth to know that he loves her and he would do anything to prove it, he also wished the courts would stop trusting Abigail.
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.
Continuously throughout the play greed is a main cause of persecution. Putnam is a wealthy man with much land but wants more. George Jacobs happens to have a lot of land that Putnam wants, using his daughter Putnam gets Jacobs accused of witch craft and put to death. Jacobs death results in Putnam being able to buy his land. Giles knows the truth behind Jacobs being accused, he makes that clear when he exclaims “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeits his property – that’s law!
“You should surely know that Cain was an upright man, and yet he did kill Abel. ”(Miller, Pg. 87) Cain killed Abel because of ambition. He wanted his sacrifice to God to be better than Abel’s, and when it wasn’t, this upright man killed his brother. This same force can be seen throughout history, with some major consequences.
To begin, in Salem fight about land ownership. One example of greed is when Giles Corey states that Thomas Putnam of accusing his neighbors of witchcraft: “This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” (Miller 96) Thomas Putnam disputes land boundaries with John Proctor: “What anarchy is this? This tract is my bounds, it’s in my bounds, Mr. Proctor.”
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
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.
As a French Proverb states, “greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth”. People are consumed with wanting more and more rather than knowing what they need in life. The human race constantly carries on this pattern of greed. A theme of greed is shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Character Motivation in The Crucible; Vengeance and Desire Imagine growing up in a Puritan society, constantly having to follow the strict and normally harsh religious rules that were at the very core of the Puritan life. You would think that the townspeople of Salem would have a mindset to obey all the strict rules, due to the fact that they were threatened by the looming presence of the noose. This was not so in the case of The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller. All things considered, the character motivation was completely different from what you would expect from a Puritan society.
The Devil, a figure usually associated with fear, death, and sickness is placed within this play as an influential “character” based on his spiteful reputation. His name alone, when spoken, fills any room in Salem with terror and uncertainty. Especially in such a puritan society, such as Salem, the Devil is recognized as a malicious creature who is behind the “Witchcraft” and “sickness” taking place. As Mr. and Mrs. Putnam attempt to jump to conclusion that “there are hurtful, vengeful spirits layin hands on these children”(15), Mrs. Putnam justifies the
One of the main elements that eventually build up to the main plot in the play is power. Many of the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible have a strong desire for power. The Salem witch trials empowered several characters in the play who were previously marginalized in Salem society. It gave them the chance to misuse it leading to horrible suffering and even deaths of some innocent people in the town. Some of these characters are Abigail Williams, Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris.
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
