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“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. ”(Roosevelt). The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical fiction about how hysteria and groupthink can have drastic consequences. It follows the Salem witch trials and the events that led to 19 people being convicted of witchcraft and subsequently killed. The most important subject in The Crucible is how fear can affect decisions.
During the late 1600’s, numerous accusations of witchcraft were spreading throughout the New England colonies, primarily focusing in Salem Village, Massachusetts. Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”, paints a very descriptive image of the several different facets of guile and deception that were instituted in “The Crucible.” In contrast, Miller focuses on one utmost theme, hysteria. Clinical mass hysteria describes the spread of a psychologically-manifested illness.
One cynical reason why people cause hysteria in society is to gain power. This is shown by a character in Author Miller’s play, The Crucible, and through the actions of past Senator McCarthy. Abigail Williams, a character in The Crucible, used the fear of witchcraft and being named a witch in Salem, Massachusetts to give herself leverage
Arthur Miller's The Crucible presents the mass hysteria known as the Salem Witch Trials, which can be related to the events following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a once faultless naval base in the United States. Just as in The Crucible Abigail caused the unjust imprisonment of nearly all of the members of the Salem community, Franklin D. Roosevelt also caused a mass hysteria when he used fear to encourage the United States to action following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This marked the beginning of Japanese internment where all Japanese people, including Japanese-Americans, were taken from their homes and relocated to isolated internment camps. Abigail's accusations on the people of Salem and Pres. Roosevelt's
The author, Arthur Miller, wrote “The Crucible” that tells us the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. The society in Salem in 1692 was full of McCarthyism and fear because they thought their other citizens are doing witchcraft. Miller tells us that ignorance and fear combined can destroy a town’s social well-being. On the play, “The Crucible”, the citizens of Salem’s reacted with fear when they hear that someone has a sign of being a witch.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, hysteria is being spread throughout the puritan community of Salem. Abigail is the main reason for all of this, with her lies and her persuading her friends to follow along with the lies and blaming others. The historical setting, characters, and events have shown us hysteria throughout the play and how the people of Salem handle the feeling of being in constant fear. As we read the play it is easy to see that hysteria causes people to jump to conclusions.
“The Crucible” is a 1953 play by the author Arthur Miller. The play is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the U.S. government blacklisted accused communists. Arthur Miller was questioned by the “House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities” in 1956 and convicted of "contempt of Congress" for refusing to identify others present at meetings he had attended.
First, in The Crucible it displays hysteria in many different ways, and was a major factor in the numerous accusations of witchcraft. Hysteria’s role in The Crucible was tearing the community apart, and causing neighbors to turn on each other and stab each other in the back. In the beginning not every character falls into mass hysteria , but it ended up spreading throughout the whole community. It first started when Betty was in a coma.
What Truly Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. On the Merriam Webster Dictionary website hysteria is defined as “a situation in which many people behave or react in an extreme or uncontrolled way because of fear,anger,etc. ”This is the exact same thing that happened in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible which is based off of the Salem Witch Trial hysteria. What truly caused the hysteria within the play and in the actual Salem Witch Trial can be multiple things
The Crucible by Arthur Miller relates to many hysterias that happen in reality. This book gives us the attention to this repetitive problem, and to prevent it in the future we can be more aware of what’s happening, and how to handle it. Likewise, The Red Scare was caused by the people themselves, there were many concerns in Eastern Europe and China about the issue of communism. The general idea of this novel is that there are continuous cases of hysteria that have happened in the past which is why Arthur Miller decided to make this novel and based off of his own experiences, he decided to bring consciousness on this matter; he wants people to understand the concept of hysteria. Although Fear was influenced into their minds, one element that
Hysteria can be defined as the exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This definition proves true and exists throughout the course of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. In The Crucible, a group of girls go dancing in a forest around a cauldron, some even naked, and along with a black slave named Tituba. Reverend Parris, the local minister, then catches the girls in the act. As a result, Betty, one of the girls and Parris’s daughter, goes into what it seems like a coma.
Throughout the town of Salem, Massachusetts fear has spread. It has affected everyone in the town and has brought nothing but chaos. The people of Salem are becoming more scared and determined to hunt down every witch they can find. In The Crucible, fear is appeared as a negative trait since it makes the people act differently during this period of time. Abigail showed fear when she said that Tituba was a witch and was performing witchcraft.
The Crucible Essay The theme of hysteria is evident throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in everyday life and society. Driven by self-preservation, hysteria influences many characters’ actions and leads to the devastating witch trials in Salem. For instance, many characters in The Crucible are driven to execute drastic actions to sustain their reputation and protect themselves.
When you are young, the world is supposed to be a beautiful place. It should be inspiring; allowing you to believe you can do anything, as long as you are willing to do the work. Schools are supposed to be the initial place you start to grow. Schools are were your mind is shaped, the place where you began to understand a lot of things, educators were willing to teach you and help build you up ; encouraging you to stay focus, wanting you to continue following your dreams. Nowadays, it seems as though children’s dreams and aspirations are fading.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” - Franklin D Roosevelt. Fear plays a major role for the tragic ending of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, because fear is upon the citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, it leads to unanticipated accusations, power, and hatred. This feeling, has occurred in everyone’s life at some point, which is more overpowering than some might think. Once hysteria arose about the girls dancing in the woods, due to all the fear it leads to unanticipated accusations, being a slave, Tituba was accused by Abigail to avoid any punishment.