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Power Corrupt In The Crucible

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Time and Time Again Power Corrupts “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This quote by politician Lord Acton has a lot to do with The Crucibles. The Crucibles, a play written by Arthur Miller takes place during the Salem witch trials. In this play a lot more was happening than just the hanging of witches. There was also corruption of power and authority in the court, specifically by a judge named Danforth. Danforth used his hierarchy to take advantage of people and situations. This still happens today all around the world. History has shown time and time again that power corrupts. A recent example can be seen in Guatemala, a country that has struggled with corruption of power for a decade. In the most current case …show more content…

In The Crucibles Danforth is continually harassing Proctor to give up his confession. Once Proctor finally gives up his dignity and confesses, Danforth doesn’t stop. He continues on to force Proctor to write it. This happens when Danforth says, “Do you sport with me? You will sign your name or it is no confession, Mister! His breast heaving with agonized breathing, Proctor now lays the paper down and signs his name.”(Miller 131) There was no law or requirement for a signature, Proctor already gave his word; but Danforth was using his power to force him to sign it so he could publically expose him. Danforth had no right to do this, but since he had the authority to do so he chose to take advantage of it. The same can be said for President Otto in Guatemala. Being President obviously comes with it perks, although Otto takes is a little too far. He tries to use his immunity to get out of what he has done, knowing he’s going to be punished for what he has done. In the Gale Database it reads, “The president, whose term expires in January, and who enjoys immunity while in office, has refused to heed the calls for his resignation…he is only delaying the inevitable -- meaning, quite likely, a prison sentence.” Even when Otto knows he’s about to go down, he’s using his immunity to push it back as far as he can. Immunity is a form of power given to the president as a privilege, but when given this it also caused room for corruption. Using that pleasure as a way to benefit himself when he got in

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Proctor’s Opposition to His Society In the book, The Crucible, Arthur Miller introduces us to John Proctor. Proctor is married and simple, yet he's argumentative toward his town for the persecution of “witches.” Proctor faces conflict throughout the town, his morals are challenged and his view on ethical implication are changing.

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Integrity is an essential piece of heroism, this can especially be seen in the novel "The Crucible" as the two ideals of integrity and heroism collide. Many different conclusions could be made from reading this novel when it comes to both integrity and heroism. While there are characters like John Proctor whom exhibits heroism through integrity, selflessness, and bravery, there are other characters whom sacrifice their own integrity in order to preserve their own imagine. These characters are portrayed as dynamic villains like Reverend Parris and Abigail Williams and others like Salem's own Sheriff whom is less dynamic and a greater linear character. Each individual's integrity would change constantly throughout the story due to a constant stacking of lies, all of which is rooted to one's struggle to keep a good image by forfeiting her own integrity.

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It seems very hypocritical of Danforth to critize Procter for not being a good Christian, yet Danforth does not value human life enough to put his tail between his legs and admit his

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In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him.

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Poor Behavior in “The Crucible” Ever wonder why people dies in The Crucible? The impact of Poor Behavior is exhibited throughout The Crucible. Most of the characters act badly.

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The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.

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Despite their deeply religious values, the members of the Puritan Society in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are equally as sinful as the rest of the world. The Puritans, known for turning to God when given any matter at hand, lay blame on the Devil, regardless of their contradictory values. By blaming on him for their wrongdoings, the Devil earns power through the Puritans restoring to involve him whenever any one thing goes wrong. Power is defined by one’s reputation, status, wealth, gender, and age; although the natural deciding factor of one’s power in the Puritan society is land, the Devil himself holds ultimate power. Despite the fact that he does not appear as a human figure, he controls the thoughts and actions of the Puritan society, serving as the ultimate threat.

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Proctor refused to let the paper he signed be hung on the wall, shouting, “I have confessed myself!... God does not need my name nailed upon the church!... God knows how black my sins are! It is enough!" He implied that by falsely confessing to witchcraft he would be dishonorable to his friends and family, and it would encumber him for the rest of his life.

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In a setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, religion is the direct reflection of one's social standing. Reputation is extremely important for the town, as it is your only way to get a fair hearing and respect from the people. The protectiveness of reputation is necessary in The Crucible to justify yourself when presented with fallacious arguments. In this play the importance of reputation is revealed though the uses of ethos, logos and pathos. The protectiveness of reputation is uncovered through various characters such as Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor.

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Power in our society nowadays is very misgiven and abused. When people have power they tend to use it for their own benefit and to manipulate people into believing them. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller dramatizes the Salem witch trials of 1692 in order to show his audience how easy it was to be accused and hung for witchcraft. In the Crucible a group of young girls were caught dancing in the woods and in order to not receive a punishment they lied saying they got witched. The girls blamed many people of the town of being witches and caused conflict all over the village.

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In The Crucible, the normal social and moral order is completely inverted. Salem was a secluded village in Massachusetts that was a strict, theocratic, hierarchical, patriarchal society where power and morality were two incredibly important aspects within the community. The men of Salem held all of the political power in the community and their rule was strengthened not only by the law but also by the hypothetical approval of God. However, the Salem witch trials empowered several individuals in The Crucible who were formerly marginalized and powerless and similarly inverted the normal moral order in Salem by forcing the characters in the play to make a decision between adhering to or abandoning their fundamental morals in order to survive or

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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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Turn your back. Now let neither of you turn to face Goody Proctor. No one in this room is to speak one word, or raise a gesture aye or nay”(112). This quote means that Judge Danforth clearly has the most power in The Crucible because, Judge Danforth was able to stop everyone in the court from talking, or making any type of gestures to Mrs. Proctor.

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In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller, John Proctor demonstrates courage by speaking out for what he believes in while knowing his consequences, admitting his wrong doings with Abigail to save Elizabeth’s life, and choosing to be hanged over having his name posted on the church door because the second his signed confession is posted, his and his loved ones reputations will be ruined. In the beginning of the play all John Proctor cared about was his reputation. However, ultimately he sacrificed his reputation by telling the court he committed adultery. John telling the court he was guilty ruined his reputation, which made all hell break loose.

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Power and influence in society have a huge impact on the way things happen and affects perception. A prime example is the power that presidents and prime ministers have. Given this power they can effectively influence and persuade others. Power and influence is often associated with gender, conflict and roles and relationships. The importance of the power and influence can be thoroughly examined using texts that demonstrate ideas presented as truths.

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