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What Does John Proctor Symbolize In The Crucible

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Why point a finger at someone, when four are pointing right back at you; history continues to repeat itself over and over again. The Salem Witch Trials were a time when Puritans turned on their own kind, accusing them of witchcraft. This continuous accusation turned the Puritan’s well-being upside down. Over hundred years ago, the Red Scare occurred and people with higher states were getting accused of being named Communist. These allegations have been just as ruinous as being called a witch throughout the 1800’s. During the Red Scare there was an enormous amount of McCarthyism, accusing people with no evidence; this explained best, “Joseph McCarthy thought that it was his duty to get rid of communists in Washington”(Kraine).”Worries that the Soviet Union 's communist ways would infiltrate the United States led to a significant amount of paranoia within the American government” (“Why”).Senator Joseph McCarthy was …show more content…

He was not the only casualty during this time, there was the Hollywood Ten and these people were part of the film industry. Consequently, the group got their name because they refused to testify and then fired (“Hollywood Ten”). The Hollywood Ten symbolized the first group of witches. The Crucible “...was an act of desperation” (Miller). He did not see another way to express his feeling during that time. The author of “ The Crucible”, depicted a time where people were at odds with each other. Everyone had a motive, mirroring the Red Scare. The Puritans were “ pointing fingers and passing judgment” (“The”) on everyone who crossed another. Lying seems easy when hiding skeletons in a person’s closet. This statement remains true to this day. The Puritans were humans who wanted to reach the unimaginable perfection while trying to seem impeccable to the world is something that will never end. Meanwhile, on this journey of perfection only the strong

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In the 1940 's and 1950 's, an anti-Communist movement swept the United States of America. Fueled by the anti-Communist actions of Congress, particularly a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy, the movement escalated and many people lost their jobs as a result of various blacklists. Congressional hearings, both in front of HUAC and McCarthy Senate committee were a study in organized persecution. The actions taken during the "Red Scare" were eventually given the general name McCarthyism. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.

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In the dying girl that no one helped a young woman was murdered while at least 38 people sat and watched. After that people started to share reasons why people didn't want to get involved or questioned about the incident. This incident happened in the 1960s in New York. In the crucible there are a couple of girls dancing in the woods so they could perform a ritual so they could get the guys of their dreams. They lived in Salem where everyone thought they were performing witchcraft.

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Both trials were held with barely any proof against the person being accused and were solely based off of false accusations. The Hollywood Ten were ten directors and producers who were wrongly accused of being communists. They were forced to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Committee and they refused to answer any questions about their connections towards communism. Likewise, in The Crucible John Proctor, Elizabeth Tituba, Giles Corey, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Goody Osborne, and Goody Good were all falsely accused of being associated with witchcraft. Abigail Williams was the person behind most of these accusations and that led to even more people being accused.

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In my opinion John Proctor is the protagonist of the crucible, because there are some reasons. One reason for me is that John Proctor is starting the Salem witch trials indirectly. It is Abigail who starts the trials, but she only does it to kill John’s wife to be the only one John love and they finally can get married. Because of that the relationship between John, his wife and Abigail is in the foreground. Another reason why John is very important in the Crucible is that he has a strong voice in the community.

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SIGALIT MIGIROV BAND D CHARACTER ANALYSIS- “THE CRUCIBLE” “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, has developed and put to life many characters- including John Proctor. John Proctor is a man who always surprises us in every act, as well as shows more of a controlled, wiser personality. His motivation throughout the play can be recognized by his actions, presentation, language and dedication. Even though we are not providing much information about John’s childhood, nor his specific birthplace, but we can infer it was outside of Salem since he is isolated and constructed his own faction of his family from Salem. As stated, “…was a farmer in his middle thirties.(pg.20)”

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“The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life” said John F. Kennedy. Because of what has happened in Arthur Miller's life, and the content of the poem; the Crucible; we can accumulate that he would say yes. Arthur Miller would indicate that the Syrian refugees not allowed to come in would be considered a modern witchcraft.

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654 Words | 3 Pages

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a story about how a group of girls blamed other people in their town for witchcraft and changed the whole ways of the town. One of the biggest characters in the story is John Proctor who is Abigail’s (the main character's) past lover who John committed an affair with. Abigail wants him back so she tries to get his wife out of the picture by blaming her for witchcraft. John is a very proud man who wasn’t really scared to die, but since John Proctor is motivated by keeping his own integrity and protecting his family his decision to admit his sin of adultery, however by the end of the play he still stays positive. “A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.

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In scene 1 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Anne Putnam, whose daughter was currently lying “afflicted” on her bed, blurted out to Rebecca Nurse “There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires”(26). Contrastingly, in the movie version of The Crucible, rather than Mrs. Putnam, John Proctor says this line to Reverend Hale when he arrives in the village. Both speakers mean different things by this line, but I do believe that John Proctor should be the owner of this line. Anne Putnam had lost 7 of her 8 children up to this point in The Crucible, and after Rebecca Nurse said, on the affliction of Ruth, “let us rather blame ourselves”(26), Mrs. Putnam says this deep remark. By speaking of “fires within fires” and “wheels within wheels”, Anne meant that there were villagers making events, such as 7 of her children dying, happen.

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A crucible is defined as a severe trial. The title, The Crucible, refers to the many moral tests shown throughout the book. Many accused witches underwent tests of moral strength and truthfulness via the trials. Elizabeth was tested of her truthfulness in court, the girls being tested of their loyalty and truthfulness during the trials of the accused, and Proctor being tested by his lust for Abigail and his desire to live during the trials.

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Reasons Behind The Crucible Arthur Miller’s main purpose in writing The Crucible was to show the similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials and to warn against government propaganda. At the time that The Crucible was published, America had a huge fear of communism. Anyone accused of having ties with the communist party was shunned. It much resembled the Salem Witch Trials in how the government, or leader of the time, used fear against the people to gain power. For example, Joseph McCarthy can be compared to Reverend Parris in how they both lead the people into the belief that there were intruders in their mists that had plans to sabotage the community.

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1257 Words | 6 Pages

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.

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Like all ofSimilar to these authors, Arthur MMiller showsprovides, through multiple characters, insight on the length in which Puritans will go to convince themselves they are honoring their Covenant with God, even if they hurt others in the

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Soon after the release of his play critics began to notice the allegorical nature of the play. It was released in a time when the paranoia and hysteria was very relevant. It was dealt with by people regularly. Miller comments though that the reality of the situation was that The Red Scare was almost a more serious event in his mind. “Inevitably, it was no sooner known that my new play was about Salem than I had to confront the charge that such an analogy was specious -- that there never were any witches but there certainly are Communists.(Miller, Why I wrote The Crucible)” Miller was guilty of egocentrism.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

A crucible is known as a very severe situation, or a trial. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem experienced a crucible when they went through the witch trials. The trials became so severe that innocent people were dying in ways such as hanging or having boulders placed on them. The Crucible got its name from the trials, the impact it had on society, and other after effects of the trial.

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1159 Words | 5 Pages

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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