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The Crucible Tituba Character Analysis

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In Arthur Miller’s play, “The Crucible,” Tituba is the African-American slave of Reverend Parris. She was originally from Barbados, and many of her customs and culture she carried over from her homeland are foreign to the villagers in Salem who believe she practices what they call “black magic.” After being coerced into performing this “black magic” in the woods one night for Abigail and a group of other girls (including Mercy Lewis, who was sent by Mrs. Putnam in vain hope of communicating with one of her seven dead infant children), the pack is found out by Abigail’s uncle, the Reverend Parris. After lengthy interrogation, Reverends Parris and Hale are able to beguile Abigail into being forced to confess to drinking blood and trying to summon …show more content…

It is easy for a typical villager in Salem to place blame upon a slave, someone who is considered lower in society and in life. Tituba’s main motivation is to save her own life after being accused of witchcraft. Frightened and vulnerable, Tituba surrenders herself when Parris threatens her, saying “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (Miller 1119). Tituba answers “No, no, don’t hang Tituba! I tell him I don’t desire to work for him, sir” (Miller 1119). Prior to Parris’s death threat, Tituba refuses “compacting with the Devil.” After realizing her life is at stake if she denies it, Tituba confesses to submitting to the Devil and attempts to make herself innocent and to unload this blame, which she had received from Abigail, onto the Devil and even onto others in the community by claiming that they work with Satan. In a panic, she begins to name others in the community that may be able to share in the blame of witchcraft with her and lighten her own punishments. I believe that while what she did was wrong, Tituba has proper justifications for her actions. She acts out of instinct and fear, striving for

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Throughout the entire book of The Crucible, female citizens are being accused of witchcraft and one of the most prominent rhetorical devices used is bandwagon. “On the bandwagon” is a term used to describe people that jump on trends that most people are doing. In The Crucible, when Rev. John Hale was interrogating Tituba, she started accusing two other citizens in hopes of everyone else not accusing her of undergoing witchcraft/ being a witch. She is seen accusing the people “there is Goody Good … Aye, sir, and Goody Osburn” (47) which shows Tituba’s characterization as a liar and a deceiver.

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Tituba was a servant of Reverend Parris that would dance with the girls in the woods around a fire. Abigail is the niece of Reverend Parris, which he adopted and a girl who also had an affair with John Proctor. Betty is the daughter of Reverend Parris who gets caught in the mess with Abigail and Mary. 4. Mrs.Putman believed that there are witches in Salem because she had talked to a witch to contact her dead children.

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Among the hundreds that were charged, a considerable lot of them were the general population who did not trust the same confidence as the Puritans, for example, the West Indian hirelings. The primary West Indian worker to be blamed for being a witch was Tituba. All through the records of the warrants and the examinations of Tituba in 1691-1692 she is alluded to as "Tituba an Indian Woman hireling," demonstrating the Puritan culture's taking note of her as various, both in race and religion. Additionally, in the trial of Sarah Good, 1692, Harthorn asks "what god doe you serve," demonstrating the significance of the religion of the charged and how the judge considered that certainty. Despite the fact that numerous history specialists contend that monetary and political insecurity filled a great part of the allegations, a ton of the allegations were additionally in view of religious conviction.

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After all of this chaos, Tituba (Reverend Parris’s slave from Barbados) and two other women were charged for witchcraft. In the courtroom, the girls were acting erratically and only Tituba out of the three confessed about participating in witchcraft. She did this because she did not want to be executed. In addition, she claimed that their were other witches in Salem.

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Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, is the first to admit to dancing with the devil. Based on the background knowledge of the time, slaves were not considered part of the class system, so she was not valued as a community member. Tituba is conscious that she is in danger, “she is also very frightened because her slave sense has warned her that, as always, trouble in this house eventually lands on her back” (Miller, pg. 6). Tituba attempts to tell the truth about Abigail when she says, “You beg me to conjure! She beg me make charm” (Miller, pg. 44) but realizes that her word against Abigail will not stand.

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Abigail William is the most selfish girl in Salem. When she was about to get busted for getting involved in witchcraft she blamed Tituba and several other citizens in Salem. She was the one that persuaded Tituba to cast spells. Abigail made Tituba put a curse of Elizabeth Proctor, because Abigail had a brief affair with John Proctor.

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In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Reverend Parris, a solipsistic and impatient minister of Salem, Massachusetts, possesses a 40-year-old Barbadian slave named Tituba. Tituba is misunderstood and genuine; she was neglected by the Parris' due to her perceived lack of intelligence, which clarifies when the girls were caught dancing in the woods and accused Tituba of being "with the devil" because she had been seen dancing with Betty, one of Reverend Parris's daughters and Abigail, Reverend Parris's niece. Abigail also claimed that Tituba reached out to her with "the Devil’s book" in dreams. Miller portrays Tituba as a gullible slave who fibs to shield herself from being tormented by her master, to show her devotion to the Parris family, and to

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So speak utterly, Tituba, turn your back on him and face God- face God, Tituba, and God will protect you” (Miller 44, Act 1). Tituba, the lowest of the low, has her status temporarily elevated because of the witch trials. Normally, she is the one told what to do and told to obey; now, however, she has the power of life and death over others. With the “good” power and the “bad” power being displayed in the town of Salem, times got very puzzling for the court and

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Everyone longs for success. They desire the acceptance and approval for following their moral compass, being rewarded, and being acknowledged. However, one cannot maintain success without a purposeful and achievable position of power. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of society is bound upon a pronounced hierarchy. Men naturally are deemed as having higher status than women in society.

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To begin, it is a popular belief that Tituba, a slave in the story, was justified in her confession to witchcraft in order to save her own life. After the girls of Salem peg Tituba as the culprit for corrupting their souls and torturing them, she is interrogated and accused by characters such as the esteemed Reverend Hale and town’s Reverend, Mr. Parris. Finally, Parris exclaims, “ You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!” (1.941-942). Tituba instantly confesses, and saves herself from a terrible death.

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481 Words | 2 Pages

Abigail is extremely concerned with her well-being and reputation. In Act One, Reverend Parris confronts Abigail about dancing in the forest, and, instead of confessing, she begins denouncing others. This illustrates how she is willing to allow others to be harmed because of her extreme fear. One example of this is when Abigail states, “Not I sir—Tituba and Ruth” (Miller 15). The character of the residents of Salem is not exceptional.

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As Tituba was accused of witchery, Hale takes her hand and tells her “confess yourself to witchcraft, and that God will protect you” (24). Tituba overwhelmed with fear was frightened

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Abigail blamed Tituba for witchcraft because Abigail did not want the blame and Tituba was an easy scapegoat since she is black. Abigail yelled at Paris, “She made me do it! She made Betty do it!”(1.905). This is just one of the victims of Abigail scapegoating. The main purpose, scapegoating, occurred more than vengeance did.

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In order to save herself from extensive consequences when the society had found out about her eating of the chicken blood in the forest, she is forced to blame someone for her wrongdoing. With this, Tituba comes close to her death, as it is intolerable for any Puritan to take play in witchcraft or consult with the Devil. Abigail claims that Tituba always “comes to [her] while [she] sleep[s] [and that] she's always making [her] dream corruptions!” (44). Although this is untrue, the Devil is placed in a situation of crime, which raises his level of power, as he is the one who is known to force people into performing sinful acts when they are under his influence.

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In The Crucible, Tituba has been an ambitious and she

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