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The Crucible is a play written by Arthur Miller that was written in the 1950s. It was about the Salem Witch Trials that took place in 1692, in Massachusetts. The author played around with the definitions in his text. The word "Crucible," has many different definitions to it. Arthur Miller used each definition in the play to express the meaning of the word, Crucible.
In the history, there are have many major events that have affected the times we live in. Two of the major events of our time are the Witch-hunt of the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. In these two events, there are many similarities like anger, fear, and Consequence. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red scare in the McCarthy Era because the example is McCarthy accused many people of being part of the communist party. It is said to have been a modern-day witch hunt, and it showed another example of a time period in which false and unsettling accusations led to forced confessions.
The Salem Witch Trials of the 1690's were a hunt where many people were accused and executed for being charged guilty of witchcraft. Arthur Miller, the writer of The Crucible, created the play as an allegory to portray the events going on during the Red Scare. The Red Scare was when the fear of Communism spread rapidly throughout the U.S. because of accusations made by Senator Joseph McCarthy. He believed that many American citizens were part of a secret Communist Party. Most modern day witch-hunts are the same in the sense of how people are accused.
1940’s America was a nation in the grip of paranoia. The terror of communist infiltration hung heavily over the heads of every citizen. Everyone from government employees to actors were called before congress, under accusations of being a communist. However, there was more fiction to this anxiety than fact. Yet, due to the actions of certain individuals, it persisted.
Imagine waking up to banging on the door and shouting from a large crowd. It’s still dark outside and everyone is holding pitch forks and torches, staring at the door and waiting for an appearance. All these people are at the door accusing innocent good people of witchcraft. In the 1690s, many people, mostly women, were accused of witchcraft and that turned into the Salem witch trials. History repeats itself because in the 1950s, just like the Salem witch trials, many people were accused of communism, a period known as the Red Scare.
The Salem witch trials proved to be one of the most cruel and fear driven events to ever occur in history. Many innocent people were accused of witchcraft, and while some got out of the situation alive not everyone was as lucky. Arthur Miller the author of The Crucible conveys this horrific event in his book and demonstrates what fear can lead people to do. But the reason as to why Arthur Miller felt the need to write The Crucible in the first place was because the unfortunate reality that history seemed to have repeated itself again. In the article “Are You Now or Were You Ever”, Arthur Miller claims that the McCarthy era and the Salem witch trials were similar and he does this through his choice of diction, figurative language, and rhetorical questions.
In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, Mary Warren, Abigail Williams, and Tituba are instrumental in spreading the hysteria that resulted in the Salem Witch Trials. The word “Salem," is in close relation to “witchcraft," "hanging" and “hysteria" when mentioned. Many are shocked and appalled by the seeming complete lack of justice and sanity that occurred during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, when nineteen individuals were put to their death for crimes they did not commit. Witchcraft was introduced when a group of girls were caught dancing in the woods by Betty’s father, Revered Parris. When caught, Betty pretended to faint in the woods and remained in a coma like state for a couple days because she was scared.
The Salem Witch Trials in 1692 is an interesting piece of our history. Even after 305 years, it is still a subject discussed in many schools and many people are intrigued by what had happened. The Trials were caused because many women were accused of witchcraft in Salem, the trials were used as a way to single out witches and hang them since witches were against God. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Miller puts a spin on the Trials and gives readers a sense of what happened. Throughout Act One, the whole town of Salem is aware of witchcraft and while many have their opinions on who spread the witch hysteria, there is only one at fault.
In the story, the crucible, written by Arthur MIller many people wonder the reason for john’s actions at the end of play when he Decided to destroy his confession. The Crucible is about accusations of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. There were many people that get accused of witchcraft due to hate and jealousy in these years , it ruined many lives and hurt families. John did not believe in witchcraft from the beginning of the play, he was not about to start.
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" is written about the salem Witchcraft trial of 1692, these trials conssisted of women being accused of being witches, being sentenced to death, tortured, and their reputation would be forever tarnished. The similar "McCarthy" hearings were trials in which Senator JoeMcarthy accused government employees of being comunists. Both the events in 1692 and 1950 share very similar details on how they took effect on people. There was really no proof for them to go off of, but they got the consequences anyway. Which created fear in people and the will to fight back.
“The edge of the wilderness was close by. The American continent stretched endlessly West, and it was full of mystery for them. It stood dark and threatening, over their shoulders night and day, for out in Indian tribes marauded from time to time, and Reverend Parris had parishioners who had lost relatives to these heathen” (Miller,5). In the beginning of the book, Reverend Paris one night found his niece and all her friends dancing (which is forbidden in this time period) in the woods, which is known to be the Devil’s playground.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play about what happened during the Salem Witch Trials. It gives insight about what people had to deal with in this situation and how they handled it. The trials were basically a big test which helped figuring out whether or not people were guilty of witchcraft. This is an example of what a crucible is. In our world today we still have crucibles and even though they are different than back then, they all relate to each other because of what influence they have on people.
Jacqueline Sheehan, a New York Times best selling author and psychologist from Florence Massachusetts, was born on January 8th. When she was young, her father died of a heart attack and later in her life her ex-husband was killed in a motorcycling accident. During college Sheehan studied anthropology and art, and then after the birth of her daughter she went and got a Phd in psychology and worked at counseling centers. She started to write around the same time she starting becoming a counselor ("Jacqueline Sheehan”).
People in the town of Salem are all furious and upset with the current witch trial that are taking place. The prosecution that the court has provided is that Abigail, Mary, Danforth, and Hale all provided factual information and truthful evidence to those that have been accused of witchcraft. They are trying to prove that those accused are practicing and using witchcraft, and that the accusers are trustworthy, reliable people who have no reason to be doubted. The main problem with the previous trial were caused by Abigail, Mary, Danforth, and Hale. Abigail Williams is an unreliable and untrustworthy person.
Abortion, the ending of a pregnancy. An abortion occurs when a pregnancy is ended so that it does not result in the birth of a child. Abortion has been defined as a “brutal murder” and is not allowed in the eye sight of God.
