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Fear And Ignorance In The Crucible

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“The Crucible” is a novel by Arthur Miller that focuses on what fear and ignorance can do in society. This book is a tragic tale in which the other woman, Abigail Williams, seeks vengeance when her lover, John Proctor, turns from her and back to his wife, Elizabeth. Abigail is the most responsible for the deaths that occurred during this time because she was the ringleader of all the young girls during this witchcraft escapade. Although she is guilty for these crimes, she does not feel remorse for it, except perhaps her lover getting caught in the crossfire. Reverend John Hale, the self proclaimed witch expert, feels the most guilt due to the fact that he was the one who signed off on the death warrants. The whole witchcraft situation began …show more content…

It wasn’t simply any love though, it was her need for a married man, John Proctor. This desire drove her mad as she clung to any chance to have him as her own. “Proctor: … [Abigail] thinks to dance with me on my wife’s grave! …” (pg 10). She was ready to destroy anyone and everyone who got in her way and she very well did. Reverend Hale was misled and used his ‘knowledge’ of the “unnatural world” unknowingly for evil. “… Reverend Hale conceived himself much as a young doctor on his first call. His painfully acquired armory of symptoms, catchwords, and diagnostic procedures are now to be put to use at last.” (pg 36). He was so eager in the beginning to use this singular and rare knowledge that it blinded him from the possibility of this whole ordeal being a hoax. In a way he is a victim to Abigail’s charades as well. Later on, he finally realized what was going on and attempted to end it all. “Hale: I believe him! pointing to Abigail: This girl has always struck me as false!…” Meanwhile, Abigail and one of her accomplices is on a ship headed to Barbados. “Parris: Excellency, I think [Abigail and Mercy Lewis] be aboard a ship… My daughter tells me how she heard them speaking of ships last week, and tonight I discover my strongbox is broke into…” (pg 126). Abigail is most guilty of all characters portrayed not only for her actions but for the lack of acknowledgement that she had done wrong as

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Abigail is trying to have a guiltless woman slaughtered in order to seek

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When he first enters Salem it seems his head is held high with knowledge and determination, but he will not allow any conclusions to be made unless they are from his books that guide him through witchcraft cases. After Abigail reveals she did not see the devil, Hale immediately makes an accusation and suspiciously asks, “Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?” (Miller 1259). Because of Hale’s authority, Abigail becomes defensive and puts the blame on Tituba.

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(35) This shows that Hale is so involved in his work that he could possibly end up accusing someone who was not guilty of witchcraft. Hale seems overly conscious about his own life and his duty to serve the people to find the devil in Salem; he doesn’t seem to like the idea that he himself could be wicked. This shows that Hale too, did not show himself to be truthful and courteous when it came to the

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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.

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During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

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His job is to diagnose witchcraft if it is presented. During the play Hale is getting manipulated in his own beliefs, by Abigail and the girls. His power starts to slowly fade as the play goes on. ”I-quite the court” In this line Hale is trying his best to find out the witchcraft situation, but Abigail is making it worse, and taking over.

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Abigail seems like an innocent girl to everybody however it is later found out that she is one of the people who puts herself before others and makes things worse to get herself out of trouble. In act one Reverend Hale was questioning Tituba, a slave from Barbados. Tituba was explaining what the dancing and the disturbance in the woods and Abigail says she “wasn’t conjuring spirits”(Miller ??)

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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of the towns government and religion are the backbone of the story, the case of the witch trials. In the book, the main character, Abigail, blames numerous girls for witchcraft. "I'll lead them in a psalm,but let you say nothing of witchcraft yet" (Miller 17). She does this out of spite due to jealousy over goody Proctor. In their town, based on their religion, witchcraft is serious, devilish ritual and forbidden.

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Abigail uses her own personal desires to get to what she wants even though many people died in the

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The Crucible “The Crucible” is a play, by Arthur Miller, about the Salem Witch Trials. After reading “The Crucible”, you will be asking yourself, is it necessary for a person to suffer? The answer to the question is shown through the characters, Giles Corey, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. John Proctor is a respected puritan man in the community. John had made the mistake of sleeping with, a teenage girl, Abigail Williams.

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Hale went to the houses of those accused because he was starting to worry that they were actually innocent. He acknowledges, “No man may longer doubt the powers of the dark are gathered in monstrous attack upon this village. There is too much evidence now to deny it” (II.469-473.). Hale tells John and Elizabeth how the accusations are attacking the village, and how there is more evidence making it more difficult to not believe Abigail’s lie. Hale is worried that innocent people are being accused, but he also feels obligated to agree with the court.

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Afterwards, she was willing to destroy anyone in the way of her getting to be with him. Proctor definitely wishes he had never laid with Abigail, and everyone else was paying for his mistake, as she ruined everyone’s lives, “I have known her, sir. I have known her.” (Act III, 378). A single lie snowballed, leaving death and terror in its wake, all because Abigail could not, and likely did not want to control herself.

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When push comes to shove, everyone makes a tough decision, but in the end the decision was either out of fear to protect themselves, or a strategy to gain a designated amount of authority. In today 's society, many of the decisions people make lead to riots in the streets and people getting hurt. Similarly, the Ferguson riot in Missouri years ago, where many civilians were injured because of decisions made by everyone involved. Whether it turned violent because they wanted to prove something or because they feared the police when they showed up. In the story, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the characters also illustrate the fact that it is human nature to defend oneself, to strive to survive despite the harm such actions can cause to

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Published in 1952, during a period of cold war tensions, which culminated in the ideological witch trials of the mcarthy era in America; The crucible by Arthure miller is set in 1692 during the witch trials in salem massachusetts. The author has used allegory to position the reader to draw parrelels betweeen the to time periods and critisize the persecution that occured in both eras. One of the main themes that Miller has used to portray this viewpoint is the representation of personal integrity. Integrity is the quality of having strong moral pronciples. This is acheived through strongly contrasted characterisation of characters such as Abigail williams and and Rebecca Nurse, aswell as the inclusion of textual features such as irony, symbolism

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799 Words | 4 Pages

One quote from the play that supports this is “ Gah! I’d almost forgot how strong you are John Proctor!” This proves that Abigail still had feelings for John Proctor, and that she still lusts for him. Another example is “John- I am waiting for you every night.” This shows her obsession

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