Theocracy In The Crucible

The author, Arthur Miller, displays a theocracy to demonstrate a court's ignorance towards actual facts. A theocracy is a religion based government. Throughout the novel, The Crucible, the religion of the government corrupts decisions that are made in court. If someone was not a part of the church or did not attend every Sunday they were thought to be a witch, or at least dishonorable. Danforth, deputy governor, brought forth the main issue of the whole novel, "A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between" (Miller 94). The government puts many people in a crossroad because they are forced to choose between their true beliefs or what the government wants to hear. Throughout the novel, people

Proctor actually preferred not to go to church because he disliked Reverend Parris; Proctor was not entirely sure of Parris's true intentions. When John expresses his frustration by stating, "when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at his elbows..." (Miller 65) it brings him great dissatisfaction, especially after working a long hard day on the farm. Some people in the town were afraid to express the same discontent Proctor has because they do not want to be accused of witchcraft. Although, others were bold enough to confront the court and converse with the judges about how they felt. Giles Correy, being one of the people who stands up, says, "and yet silent minister? It is fraud, you know it is fraud! What keeps you man?" (Miller 78). Those who were unhappy did not believe the court was protecting the innocent people the way they should. Some members of the community think that the court is not handling the prosecutions correctly and their decisions should be revised. Arthur Miller utilizes John Proctor to prove that one is either with or against the court. The court wants Proctor to confess of witchcraft in order for him to live, but he is reluctant to do so. He is hanged because he stood up for his moral rights, and he does not say what the court wants to hear from him, a confession. Proctor might have been right in denying the

The novel displays many decisions made by the people, in which, they are aware that one must be with the court or they are against it. Members of the community know they cannot sneak by interrogations without fully believing in the court or else they will be hanged for witchcraft. Putnam states, "there is a murdering witch among us, bound to keep herself in the dark" (Miller 16), but perhaps the real murderers are right in front of the people the whole time, calling themselves a