Peer Pressure And Community In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is based off of the real historic events of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. A major theme in this is that of peer pressure and community, which is shown throughout the story as more people are accused of witchcraft and people stand by as innocents are condemned to die. Many people are condemned in the story, for crimes they never did. A large amount of the trials consisted of a set of steps- Someone was accused of being a witch / warlock. They then either would confess, or hang. If they confess, they then admit to the crime, live, and generally have to accuse someone else that they saw with the devil. If they refuse to confess, they hang and thus had to have been guilty anyways. This had a snowball effect, as there is a plot within the town’s youth. This system of trial allows them to accuse and endless amount of people. Yet, not one of them breaks the plot. While Mary Warren helps Mr. Proctor for awhile, she returns to the youth’s side, which could be taken as a plot to get Mr. Proctor accused. If even one girl had stood up and confessed the truth, that the accusations are a lie, many innocents would be saved. What makes matters worse are

The story seeks to teach a lesson based off of historic context that as a nation we had failed to learn- To speak up when innocents are being accused, not stand idly by, and not give in to mass hysteria. Maintain community, be friend with your neighbor. These lessons are embedded deeply within the story, as an attempt to get people to open their eyes at the height of The Red Scare, an event that follows the same line of accused/accusing as the Salem Witchcraft Trials did. Each lesson applies to that time period that Arthur Miller was speaking to. Every lesson was meant to break the chains of hysteria that gripped the nation, and to promote a better sense of community in the