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The Emotional Effects Of Mankind In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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Authors use themes in their books to connect the real world with the context in the book. There are many themes that are described in the events, characters, and messages within the play. Arthur Miller creates relatable themes that show the emotional effects of mankind in his book The Crucible. At the beginning of the play, Reverend Parris is at the bed side of his niece, Betty, worrying about what her dabbling’s in witchcraft would do to his already poor reputation in Salem. He already has many enemies in Salem that despise him, and what his niece has done would make him more enemies as well (Miller). Also, later in the play the readers learn that having a good reputation in Salem allows that person to gain support from others. Having a good …show more content…

Of course, the news of this possible witchcraft caused hysteria and panic to spread throughout the town of Salem like wildfire. Abigail used this fear response to her advantage. She confessed to the town, who was desperately trying to find out who the witches were, and told them that she has seen others who have also had dealing with the devil. This cleared her name and also allowed her and the other girls to blame the witchcraft on people they hated (Miller). In the real witch trial, Abigail did indeed do this to clear her name because she knew that the only way of not being hanged was to blame others (Ray). Another person who used this fear was Reverend Parris, who also blamed his enemies, such as John Proctor, to make his position in the parish of Salem stronger. Parris did indeed do this in the real accounts of the Salem Witch Trials and can be proven in his essay Meditation for Peace ("Samuel Parris - Biography in Context."). Fear is something that resides in almost every person. During this state, people lose sight of logic and do whatever comes first. Hence, the panic caused the people to believe whatever Abigail and the other girls said. Fear is a powerful response, but it can easily be taken advantage of

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Abigail Williams is the source of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem. Abigail is first accused of bewitching Betty Parris in the woods one night. She quickly disputes the accusation by saying they: Ruth Putnam, Tituba, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail herself, were only dancing despite it also being highly looked down upon. By starting out with this single lie, her story snowballs and eventually leads to the downfall of Salem. By associating herself with Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam, both of which are sick while Abigail is well, Abigail is submitting herself to a fight she can’t win unless she lies.

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1. What is Arthur Miller trying to communicate about the human condition in The Crucible? Address each of his themes with respect to the following topics. ● Infidelity & Jealousy This could lead to many being ridiculed and, to an extreme level, get them killed ● Self-respect and Reputation. People who lose everything, will still want their name, without their name, they have almost nothing to lose.

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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.

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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

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In 1692, the year of the witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts, fright, and vengeance were among the people. The people being an unforgiving group of people during the time were more prone to causing conflict than they were resolving it. In the historical fiction “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, many conflicts prevail in the plot of the story. Some of the many conflicts include Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams, John Proctor and Reverend Parris, and Reverend Parris versus society. John Proctor has a burning dislike for Reverend Parris, for he won’t even let him baptize his last son.

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Her lies play a part in starting the witch trials. To save herself she would throw any of the other girls or towns folk to blame. “ I want the light of God”, “I saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, and Bridget Bishop with the devil”. Watching Abigail's actions we see how much she is willing to bend the truth and even manipulate others to keep herself away from blame/harm. Yet even with all the lies and manipulation from Abigail there is an instance

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During the Salem witch trials, 20 lives were taken, 27 people were convicted, while over 100 were imprisoned. Innocent people were falsely accused and some had to lie against their own will to protect others while a majority tried to protect themselves. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials that resulted from the lies told by the people living in Salem. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that lies will oftentimes have consequences.

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Think for one moment, you’re in a situation where you need to make a decision that you have no idea of what the future is going to bring you. Most people tend to have fear when it comes to situations like this. A better understanding is that fear can be inflicted into the mind of individuals and severely affect them and manipulate them . This might seem unusual but, this reason states otherwise. In the play “The Crucible” the author, Arthur Miller, implies that fear can have a dramatic effect on society.

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There is no human being in the world who has never experienced a form of fear in their life. Fear comes in many forms, that all result in very disparate consequences. One might fear the outcome of a critical academic test or athletic game. Communities might fear a particular form of government. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, fear was the very power that drove the entire plot.

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Reverend Parris shows the first example of the importance of reputation in the Salem. In Act I, lines 63-66, Parris discovers the girls dancing in the forest; he recognizes the threat of witchcraft that has formed in his

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Araya 4th period Ms. Shively 9/25/15 The Crucible Essay In plays human emotions are often captured in a compelling way. Emotions can be affected by an environment but not always in a good way. In this play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, guilt is a powerful agent in effecting vulnerability in an individual by being manipulative, lying, and showing betrayal.

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He is afraid that people might think there's witchcraft in his household and lose his position as minister of Salem(Miller,Reverend Parris,Shmoop). In a quote from the novel, Parris states “Abigail, I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my very character. I have given you a home, child. I have put clothes upon your back—now give me an upright answer. Your name in the town—it is entirely white, is it not”(Miller, 63).

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He was a stern Puritan who denounced the worldly ways and economic prosperity of Salem Town as the influence of the Devil. His rhetoric further separated the two factions within Salem Village. It is likely that the jealousies and hostilities between these two factions played a major role in the witch trials. The "accusers," many of which were the "afflicted girls" to whom the book refers to throughout the work, did not even know the persons they were accusing. In fact, the afflicted girls could not even pick out the accused without whispers from other people telling them who was who.

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The Crucible explores the dangers of greed, egotism, and selfishness and their effects on Salem during the tragic witch trials of the late 17th century. The author, Arthur Miller, uses one of the main characters in the play, Reverend Parris, to embody all three of these traits. Throughout the play, Parris's actions and words demonstrate his self-centered behavior, how his traits drive his actions, and the motivations behind them, all of which ultimately contribute to the tragic events that unfold in Salem. Reverend Parris's personality trait of greed is a driving force behind his actions in the play.

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In 1949 George Orwell wrote “1984” to epitomize the haunting life under a Dystopia created and maintained by a totalitarian regime. The novel used themes from life in the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin as well as wartime in his own country of the United Kingdom. Orwell believed that democracy as it existed before 1939 would not survive the war and would be replaced by Fascist coup d’état or, and more likely, a socialist revolution with Stalinist overtones – admitting later that events had proved him wrong. In 1993, Lois Lowry wrote “The Giver” to expose the fallacy of a Utopian society where inhabitants, although well fed, healthy and seemingly happy, lack the basic freedoms and pleasures that our own society values. The novel was written

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