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Examples Of Superstition In The Crucible

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The paradox created during the Salem Witch Trials about superstition was proven to be false as the main reason for the accusation of people as witches was due to personal vengeance. Arthur Miller begins writing The Crucible by saying, “The Salem tragedy, which is about to begin on these pages, developed from a paradox” (Crucible 6). Many people believed that these Puritans were actually witches. However, they were not really witches: people just accused them of practicing witchcraft because of vengeance and greed. The Salem Witch Trials started in 1692. In the small town of Salem, Massachusetts, many people especially young girls were accused of practicing witchcraft and being possessed by the devil. If found guilty of practicing witchcraft, you would be sentenced to death by hanging. …show more content…

They all started off when Betty Parris and Abigail started acting very strange. People knew the devil was residing in them. In The Crucible Arthur Miller said, “She is cold your honor touch her!” (Crucible 108). This was one of the signs that you were possessed by the devil. Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne were the people who were initially accused. Sarah Good was accused because she was a very poor, old woman. She often begged people for food and money and they thought this was a good reason to accuse her. Sarah Osborne was accused of practicing witchcraft because she skipped church masses/meetings very often. People thought she did not believe in God which is a good reason to believe she is working with the devil. Finally, Tituba was accused of practicing witchcraft. She was a slave from Barbados. People came to the belief that she was telling stories to these girls about her encounters with the devil. She also had a different skin color which is the main reason for her accusation in the town of Salem. After having their trials, they were all sent to jail. This was the beginning of the infamous Salem Witch Trials

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In 1692, in the Essex County of Massachusetts, particularly in the community of Salem Village, a series of witchcraft afflictions, accusations, trials and executions began to take place. Afflicted with spells of black magic and sorcery, men, women and children were all rapidly involved in the activities of the witchcraft outbreak. As Salem's witchcraft outbreak began to spread throughout the community like a virus, more and more men, women and children were being arrested, tried, hung and executed. The very first incident of the Salem witch outbreak began when a group of young girls in the Salem Village met in their usual small, informal gatherings where they discussed their future.

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She put the fear of God into the other girls by threatening to do reddish work if they dare told the truth. Out of pure fear all the girls followed her lead throughout the trials. When the girls accused someone, especially a Goody, of course the court will believe a group of girls with the same story over a single woman. At this time the Devil could bind with anyone with no exceptions. The people of Salem would believe any nonsense story of witchcraft just because there was “proof” of witchcraft in Salem, the girls dancing in the woods naked because of Tituba's spells she put on the girls to act like

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Which explains why people who were witches were often women who were accused (Doc 13). One of the first accusers were Tituba who is said to tell young girls of voodoos, omens, and witchcraft. More likely then not, Tituba confuessed she was a witch in trial in order to save herself but instead it create more of a reason to hunt for witches. In her confession she

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The Salem Witch Trials began in Salem Massachusetts in 1629. Many people were accused of being a witch and many lives were lost. In Author Miller’s The Crucible, Abigail Williams is the most to blame for the events of the Salem Witch Trials.

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In 1692, the townspeople would start to face allegations of being witches and/or performing witchcraft. These allegations would come from three Puritan youth (Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam) and cause one of the most infamous series of trials in the United States, The Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692 and ended in 1693. On February 29th, 1692 the three girls accused their first victim, a slave named Tituba. Tituba did admit to being a witch as stated by the article, “The woman, a slave named Tituba, said that a man came to her and told her to sign his book, a story that local authorities took to mean that the Devil himself had told Tituba to follow his orders”.

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Tituba later confessed and admitted that she was a witch, but said there were other witches in Salem. Now historians believe that people in the colonies took advantage of the witch trials and blamed everyone that they disapproved of (Brooks). The stereotype of witches is that they are ugly, green, have warts, and fly on broomsticks. During the trials, the “witches” looked nothing like that.

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“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). During the Salem witch trials of 1692, the Bible was the main focus of everyday life. Each line in this holy book was followed down to the word. In that time, people only believed the truth when it agreed with the bible.

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When asked if she saw anyone else working for the devil, Tituba stated, “I look--and there was Goody Good...and Goody Osburn” (Miller, 158). Tituba did not really see those two; however, she had to say something in order to save herself. If she did not cooperate and confess to witchcraft, she would have been killed. By accusing others of being witches, she is taking some of the blame off of herself and pushing it onto others. Tituba did all of this because she feared for her life.

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In 1692 hundreds of people were sitting in jail for being witches, but none of them were really witches. An author named Arthur Miller wrote the play The Crucible based of the true events of the Salem witch trials. In the play some girls get in trouble for dancing in the woods. They claim the witches were making them do these bad things. The girls accused a lot of people and got a lot of people of hang for being witches.

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A superstition is a belief based on myths and not facts. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Puritans are living in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem Witch Trials. They are avid believers in two different worlds: the natural world and the invisible world. The invisible world consisted of evil creatures that hide in the natural world. They also strongly believe in the idea that God gives signs, good or bad, to express how he feels about them during certain times.

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Most often the accused had higher titles in the community. Tituba was Parris’s house slave, she was accused because she was from another country and spoke another language. Tituba confessed to the witchcraft because she believed that the Devil would take her back to Barbados. According to school.discovereducation.com (n.d.) those who were accused were seen as outcasts to the community.

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Because they were viewed as odd compared to other community members, three women struck out as the first witch suspects. The three initial women who were jailed for witchcraft were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba (Plouffe and Plouffe n.pag.). These women were not like the others, they stood out in their communities because they were different from everyone else (Plouffe and Plouffe n.pag.). Sarah Good was known for swearing and having poor manners leaving her with a bad reputation (Plouffe and Plouffe n.pag.). Sarah Osborne did not attend church regularly and therefore was an open target to offending the church (Plouffe and Plouffe n.pag.).

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