At the end of the Salem witch trials, there were a number of accused still waiting to either confess to witchcraft or be hanged. John Proctor was among those accused along with his pregnant wife, Elizabeth Proctor. Danforth, the judge, allowed Elizabeth to speak with John before the next hangings in order to plead with him for his life. Danforth allowed Elizabeth to speak to John because he thought that since she was his wife, she could convince him to confess to witchcraft.
Ashton Franquiz AP Lang Eairheart 4th 31st october 2016 Hots Questions What made Miller use irony a a lot in his writing, did it help his cause and purpose of writing it? Miller’s use of irony in his writing helped him get his points across and give a sense of comic relief to the readers, in his example of Proctor reciting the Ten Commandments and forgetting the one about adultery gives a laugh for the audience seeing how he was unfaithful to his wife and had an affair with Abigail. 2.
What are some principles or beliefs that you are willing to die for? Most people would answer with something very meaningful and significant to them. The play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller portraits how important principles may be. Hale, a character in the play, states that “No principle, however glorious is worth dying for”. His statement and opinion is wrong.
This is the biggest reason I think the legal system should not be trusted to determine guilt or innocence. I is so easy to lie to someone which is what I think happened in The Crucible. I think every person was lying in one form or another to prove innocence. At one point in the book, the judge was going to let John Proctor confess to his crimes and then he was going to let him go. That is no way to run a court.
Lying can either make or break a person. It affects the outcomes and events that are given to the deceiver, and that individual has to live with the lies’ consequences. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the act of dishonest actions actions impacts the characters’ thoughts and decisions through the manipulation of fear and choice, whether to be truthful or not. The citizens in Salem, Massachusetts call themselves Puritans, a group of Protestants of the 16th century known for withholding a religious aspect. Even with their Puritan background, the hysteria of witchcraft seems to break through and consume their beliefs.
A person can change in many ways. Sometimes it is radical, drastic, and unpredictable, others may go through a more gradual and subtle change; nevertheless, all are important and shape a person into who they are. Throughout The Crucible many characters go through life altering experiences that change the way they react in certain situations. The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller that portrays these changes in different ways for different characters. For some it is very obvious they have changed and others go through a quieter change over time.
Henceforth, few regulations enjoined by superior authority were acknowledged in small areas like Salem, Massachusetts. Danforth proclaims “And do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?... And seventy-two condemned to hang by that signature?” (Page 87). Danforth, apparently, derived pride and a sense of condescension from condemnation and punishment.
Also, since The Crucible was written to be parallel to McCarthyism, the same idea is shown. The same situation can be seen in The Crucible as Arthur Miller was influenced by the events that occurred during McCarthyism. In the Crucible, anyone whose name that had been mentioned underwent an investigation and was asked to prove that they were not partaking in witchcraft. Because this task was impossible, the court made rash decisions such as sending people to jail or sentencing them to be hanged. This scenario is seen in the crucible when Rebecca Nurse is accused.
Is there any way to judge if people are good or not? In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and perhaps in real life, one of the main problems is deciphering the goodness of people. One cannot tell a sinner from a saint apart, as every character either has excessive pride, sinful witchcraft, or terrible lies. However, the play heavily applies, however unnapparent by the reader, that certain people who commit sin are less guilty than others, especially those who don not understsand they are wrong. The theme that only people who fully understand the situation at hand can be morally judged is proven through Proctor’s fair moral outlook in the story and Parris’s who does wrong in contrast to Danforth who looks righteous in the story despite all the wrong he does, because he does not know, and .
Based on a time when witchcraft was a serious concern, The Crucible by Arthur Miller explains how false accusations can have a severe effect not only on the individual but also on the society around them. These false accusations can be seen in modern-day society through a canceled culture. In either scenario, these accusations can have devastating consequences for all parties involved. In The Crucible, false accusations made by various parties result in an endless spiral of witchhunts and executions. This spiral is started by Abigail accusing Tituba of witchcraft, where Tituba then falsely accuses several women (Miller, 41).
People tend to believe what they want to believe. Whether the information is presented by celebrities or politicians or through paid advertisements on social media, it can be misinterpreted as true, even when it has been proven false. Misinformation causes people to make reckless decisions based on what they have heard or seen. False information has led to unfortunate events, such as the Salem Witch Trials and prejudice-based violence. False information connects events in both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and current society, shaping the opinions of the public and allowing authorities to stay in power despite false evidence against them.
One Choice Can Change Lives Who knew one seemingly innocent lie could cause 19 deaths and pit an entire town against itself? That’s exactly what happens in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Authors often use similar plot devices, and their favorite one is having their characters face a test. In a small town called Salem in early America, something terrible is happening.
Arthur Miller clearly shows that the “justice” system in The Crucible was of no justice at all, instead justice was mainly chased through power and civil gain. Danfoths court was geared towards sustaining its own power and not much else which is why the confessions in the court were only their to justify its power and purpose. The court system was set up so that truth and the measurement of guilt
Furthermore, Miller constructed the witch trials in The Crucible in a way so that they mimics the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings. In order for the HUAC to subpoena someone for being a communist, all that was required was suspicion of what was considered subversive political activities. No proof was required, a simple accusation was all it took for someone’s life to be potentially ruined by the fallout of the hearing. In Salem, a simple accusation was also all that was required for someone to stand trial for being a witch. “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil!
In the story, "The Crucible" there are many fatal events from specific categories and that is gossip, lying, and hate an example is the "Rodricus Crawford" Case, he was accused for suffocating a three-year-old child and almost sentenced to death row because people were gossiping about saying it was him who did it. That was because the people accusing him didn’t like him and lied about it, and told other people false information. Abigail has accused many innocent people like Elizabeth for attempting to kill her and summoning demons which is not true. Some of the characters in the story consistently lie throughout the story.
