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What Does The Poppet Symbolize In The Crucible

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What would a poppet symbolize to you? During act 2 and 3 we see this doll cause a big effect in The Crucible. A poppet to me I see as a victim that gives the owner a sense of power or control. In this story we see just that. Not just in the doll itself but with the people in the story. Poppets are sometimes referred to as “voodoo” dolls. Those dolls were believed to have supernatural powers of witchcraft, and were used to harm people. In this story, the poppet given to Elizabeth symbolizes both victimization and power. Many people, years ago believed that the voodoo doll or poppet is used as a hold over someone. The poppet would be believed to be able to control or harm a person it is binded to. That would give the owner of the poppet a form of control or power. The original owner was Mary Warren of the poppet but was told to the court it was Elizabeth’s. What was told to the court is a reverse to how reality was. Abby has the upper hand in this situation and she likes to use it out of jealousy towards Elizabeth. “Goody Proctor …show more content…

In this case Supernatural is a theme of the play because of the element of “witchcraft” throughout the story. It’s a theme that can be tied back to the poppet because of the history of a poppet. A poppet is to be a thing of witchcraft. Either if it is used for good or bad, like in this story. “Like a beast, he says, and screamed a scream that a bull would weep to hear. And he goes to save her,and, stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out.”(page 1177) The witchcraft might not be real in this story but it is still believed to be very real in this story, far enough to grant death. The court believes this to be true because of the “evidence” they have seen. All though supernatural events don’t actually occur everyone believes and he story is based off of witchcraft, making this a theme, and the poppet adds depth to this

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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.

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This shows that people need to do the right thing no matter how hard it is so that events in real life do not get out of hand like they did in the play and like they did in the real Salem Witch

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In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there were many moments where all the characters lacked commitment and loyalty. There were little girls accusing women of witchcraft just because they didn’t like them. The girls were practically murdering the poor women themselves, all to get rid of someone and save themselves. No one was loyal to their own spouses, or was committed to a job without panicking or getting jealous at someone. The characters had no morals, and disregarded them.

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In this passage, Ezekiel Cheever responds to John Proctor’s curiosity about what a needle in a poppet signifies and why his wife Elizabeth is being accused of using witchcraft against Abigail Williams. Cheever’s response explains his knowledge of how Abigail was afflicted, his possession of strong evidence against Elizabeth Proctor as a court official, and both his and the town of Salem’s tendency to turn to superstition to explain mysterious events. As Cheever explains how Abigail was afflicted by the needles from the poppet, he utilizes a simile when he states that Abigail fell to the floor, after being stabbed, “like a struck beast” (74). Cheever says this to emphasize the abruptness and intensity of the situation and how significant it is that there is no visual perception of anyone

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784 Words | 4 Pages

The indictment of witchcraft are lies told in statements as if death is a game to play with. The whole conflicting trials in Salem, Massachusetts began with Abigail the deceiver of all the

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asia Diagne English 10 Mr. Bishop 5 November 2014 Suspense in Act II Throughout Act II, Miller slowly builds suspense by introducing new themes as he reinforces old ones, such as the themes of vengeance, adultery, and hysteria, as well introducing a new symbol, the ‘poppet.’ The puppet is introduced when Mary Warren gives Elizabeth Proctor the poppet, which she made while attending the the trials. “I made a gift for you today, Goody Proctor.

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Fullmer 1 Undoubtedly children in The Crucible have a very defining aspect of one of the major themes in the novel, innocence vs guilt. In Salem, everything and anything either belongs to God or the Devil and who is more innocent in the eyes of God than a child? Childlike behavior is associated with innocence and this apparent innocence is what kept many of the children in Salem protected during the witch trials. The symbolism of innocence relating to the children, the voice that children are given in The Crucible compared to the other people who lack the ability to defend themselves because they are considered to be less credible, and why children are represented the way they are and how their representation contrasts other characters in the novel are all important elements to the novel as a whole.

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Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.

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Miller, within The Crucible, uses symbolism creates an effective allegory that shows the connection that it has to McCarthyism. The symbolism used within the play symbolized McCarthy’s accusations and allegations. The doll that is found on Elizabeth Proctor's shelf is considered a traditional symbol of voodoo and witchcraft, “Elizabeth: ‘I never kept no poppets, not since I were a girl.’ Cheever, embarrassed, glancing toward the mantel where sits Mary Warren's poppet: ‘I spy a poppet, Goody Proctor.’ Elizabeth: ‘Oh!

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As I said, what they possibly though were witchcraft back then could be something treatable by now. Unlike in 1690’s, they didn’t have proof to back their hypothesis that it was bewitching. But now that the reason behind the said incidents were already established and proved wrong by people who studied what might have happened back then. People might still believe witchcraft does exist in present time solely because they have no idea that it might just be an illness that they had no idea about. That the reaction of people around toward something can affect greatly on how things can be

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She started out as just the Proctors’ servant. Mary is the Proctors’ second servant. After some time, she started going to the court. Mary’s first big problem is being accused of making a poppet and stabbing it for it to stab Abigail. Although she did make a poppet while in court, but she didn’t stab the doll in meaning of stabbing Abigail.

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The play, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller demonstrates the implications of a society in complete chaos over an irrational fear of witchcraft in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Fear plays an immense role in the way people make their decisions, such as when the characters of Danforth and Mary Warren resort to hypocrisy when no other options remain. Danforth and Mary Warren both embody hypocrisy, as seen when Mary says she cannot lie anymore and then lies when she becomes scared for her life, and Danforth when saying lying will send a person to Hell, but then forcing people to choose between lying and death. Mary Warren exemplifies hypocrisy extraordinarily well in the scene when she and Proctor travel to the courthouse so she can confess that the girls have pretended everything and they never actually saw spirits.

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What if there was a society where God was loved the same amount as His wrath is feared? Well, in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Puritans were a society who loved and feared God equally. They loved and feared Him to a point where they blamed others for their sins. A group of young girls were caught doing witchcraft in the forbidden woods. The girls put the blame on others so they would not be the ones in trouble and the accused Puritans were all innocent of doing witchcraft.

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Macbeth Essay: Influence of the Supernatural Throughout the Shakespearean play, Macbeth, the supernatural plays a part in all the events in the play. The witches, the floating dagger, and the prophetic apparitions are all examples of the supernatural intertwining with the play. From the murder of King Duncan to Macbeth’s eventual death, the supernatural played a part in most of Macbeth’s actions.

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So what this entails is: you either tell the truth and deny that you have anything to do with witchcraft and be hung or tell a lie, which is a sin, and go to jail for an extended period of time.  Those accused of witchcraft are put in front of those who have accused them and the judges and do not get to plead a case.   But this was not a big problem before a group of girls started to tell

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