...In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many people of Salem were accused of committing witchcraft. These accusations were brought by Abigail Williams and several others girls in the community. While the court of Salem tried determining the credibility of these allegations, many questioned the characters of those accused. Arthur Miller was able to depict that the people of Salem had clear Christian reputations that they wanted to uphold and sustain in their society. In Act 1 and throughout the play, Proctor claims that he never had an affair with Abigail. He wanted to maintain his reputation as an ethical and honest citizen in Salem. If John’s affair with Abigail becomes public it would jeopardize his reputation in the community. John Proctor makes an effort to ensure that Abigail knows to stay away from him. In Act 1, he says: “Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for...
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...A person’s reputation contains his or her dignity, and The Crucible demonstrates a perfect scenario where people show how far they will go to maintain a good reputation. John Proctor pays the biggest price in order to save his reputation. John Proctor gives off a good image in the town of Salem. However, when john gets accused of witchcraft, he has two choices, the choice to confess a sin he never committed, or hold on to the honorable reputation he already has. After thinking about the agonizing decision, John decides to sign away his reputation onto a document stating he committed witchcraft. Before he finishes, he rips up the document, and dies with his pride. John’s actions show the readers how far he goes to save his reputation. If John...
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...Reputations Witchcraft is a cruel and impacting subject throughout our history. Suppose that one individual is accused of witchcraft or someone says they have been haunted by another's spirit, they are hung and put to death. For a numerous number of people, this is an alarming subject to have to come across. The play called The Crucible, presents how witchcraft has affected many adults and children's reputations in the past. One may say Abigail Williams and John Proctor's reputations were harmed the most in the play The Crucible. Abigail was a servant for the Proctors and did not like Goody Proctor. Abigail wants John proctor all to herself. She and the other girls declare that many of the towns people have spirits that will come haunt them and this is a sign of hell rising and...
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...The Crucible This essay will discuss, explain and evaluate the main ideas, themes and interpretations of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. It will also explain and evaluate the language Arthur Miller uses and how it contributed to the overall success of the play. The Crucible is set in 1692 in the puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts, a theocratic society, where the laws of the land are laid down by the church. The main idea running throughout the play can be viewed as a direct comparison to McCarthyism which was happening in 1950’s America, in which members of the general public including public figures such as Arthur Miller were brought in and questioned over connections to communism. This can be seen as a direct comparison to people being brought into the Salem courts regarding connections with witchcraft. It was not until Miller saw this comparison that he then felt compelled to write The Crucible as he now felt he could get into the minds of those going through similar circumstances back in the Salem witch trials. Hysteria was the main cause of nineteen deaths in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, and countless ruined reputations on account of Joe McCarthy. Hysteria does not just appear out of nowhere though. There are driving forces such as revenge and abuse of power that bring about the irrational fear that can take over society. These are the issues expressed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly...
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...illegitimate, immoral, and/or inconsistent with ones duty or the rights of others. In fact, it is one of the main issues in the world today, alongside poverty, world hunger, and global warming. Despite this, corruption has given many opportunities to people across the globe. Although corruption is highly looked down upon, it is certain that corruption benefits individuals. The idea of corruption benefiting individuals is clearly seen in Arthur Millers, The Crucible. In the play, the Putnam's are known for their manipulative personalities and corrupted behavior. For example, Mrs. Putnam states “And so I thought to send her to your Tituba...Tituba knows how to speak to the...
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...Alexis Wauford Mrs. Hollewell The Crucible 11 May 2017 Importance of Reputations in The Crucible The desire to maintain an upstanding reputation greatly affects characters in The Crucible. During this time period, people were very concerned with their positions in society. They were in a very judgemental community where everyone knew each other, and because of this, people were very worried about how others perceived them. A poor reputation could cost someone their social life and many characters made decisions based upon this. The decisions that the characters made affect not only themselves, but the characters around them. A few examples of characters who worry about their reputation are John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Reverend...
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...The Crucible and McCarthyism have many similarities when it comes to unjust accusations and the persecution of the innocent. What exactly is McCarthyism? McCarthyism was started and fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the late 1940’s. He proclaimed and insisted that communist spies were all over the U.S. and that he was the country’s only salvation(2). This lead to a wide-spread panic across the country, which led to hundreds of people being accused with little to no proof. This panic was referred to as “The Red Scare”. What does this have to do with The Crucible? The Crucible has many similarities with McCarthyism and the Red Scare. For example, the accusations made by the young girls in the story can be compared to the accusations made...
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...Icelic 1 Marija Icelic Garica, Joshua English III 19 October 2015 Reputation in the Crucible The characters in the play The Crucible have a lot of things about reputation. They are all known as good citizens, for one reason or another, and they all would like to keep their good name. John Proctor would like to be known as the man who sticks up for the little person and always does the right thing. Judge Danforth wants to be known as a good judge who always makes the right decisions. Abigail and girls want to be known as good girls who are not witches and believe in God. All of these characters choose to keep their reputations rather than do the right thing or saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a one of the biggest thing in Crucible. John Proctor is the model citizen. He has good morals and tries to do the right things. He protects the innocent people. He has built up a lot of respect for his name. That is why it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. Everyone sees him as the good guy. For example, Proctor had an affair with Abigail. He can use this evidence in court to show that she is guilty, but he doesn’t want to. He tries to find other ways to prove her guilty without losing his respect. Also, Proctor is able to get away free if he agrees to sign a paper saying he was an ally of the devil. He struggles to lie that he did work with the devil. When he is asked to sign a paper saying this, he can’t.This is the quote from the book that...
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...The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play written about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. The story shows how people were accused of witchcraft through the corrupt society and killed for their supposed crimes. The time that Arthur Miller lived was filled with fear of communist infiltration into the government and accusations of people who were thought to be communists. Through his use of the Salem witch trials in The Crucible, Arthur Miller effectively illustrates the lives ruined from accusations during the Red Scare, showing the irrational way of dealing with paranoia and mob mentality leading to these accusations. The paranoia growing in people’s minds led to accusations during both the Red Scare and Salem witch trials. In the 1950s communism seemed like America’s greatest fear. The thought of communists infiltrating the American government was terrifying to Americans. With such fear of something comes paranoia of it. Because of this situation,...
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...Social responsibility is the ethical framework which suggests that an entity, be it an organization or individual, has an obligation to act for the benefit of the society as a whole. A historical example of failure to be social responsible is Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime, during the World War II era. During that time Hitler’s ideology and lack of social responsibility towards the citizens led to the death of millions of people. The citizens of Germany were incapable of taking responsibility and standing up for the millions of people that suffered and died. The society of WWII Germany is similar to that of Salem’s in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller because one of the larger issues in the community is the lack of social responsibility from the citizens and judicial system causing the hysteria and deaths in the Salem witch trials of 1692....
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...Sometimes people must risk their reputation to do what is right. This is what made John Proctor a hero, despite the flaws he had. The Crucible by Andrew Miller is a play about the Salem witch trials during the Puritans era. John Proctor is a hero in The Crucible because he believes in justice, values his reputation, and is fallible. John Proctor believes in justice for the people accused of witchcraft. He is willing to put himself on the line so others can be free. When John was at the courthouse, in front of all the judges—trying to save his wife’s life, he admits to his affair with Abigail. It does this so he can end the wrath of Abigail. John said—admitting to his faults “I have known her, sir; I have known her,” (Miller 1309). Another example would be when he is not willing to give the names of others away, because he wants to be the good person that he was always inside. He says when the towns’ men are questioning him for other “witches”. Danforth asks him if there was...
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...the confines of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many of the conflicts—including the more indirect conflict of John Proctor and Reverend Hale—hinge upon the theme of the importance of reputation. In a time when ones good reputation is the cornerstone for a content, healthy existence, it makes sense that reputation is an important recurring theme in The Crucible. John Proctor’s reputation is built upon his willingness to argue for what he thinks is right while managing to stay just this side of being a reputable, upstanding Puritan citizen. This is shown when Proctor is quick to come to verbal blows with Reverend Parris, culminating in Proctor dictating, “I like not the smell of this “authority”” (29). Proctor’s reputation of integrity and...
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...One’s reputation is one of the most important things in life. People in life can treat you in many different ways just based on one’s reputation, and it is needed when it comes to trust and respect. It can cause one to become successful, or it can cause the complete opposite. In The Crucible, reputation is an ongoing theme in the story. It is extremely important to many of the people in Salem. During the witch trials, many did not lie and confess to witchcraft, such as John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse. They would rather die with their honest integrity than to live with a tainted one. Due to this, many innocent people were hung. However, the strongest example that supports the theme of reputation would be one of the most corrupt men in Salem, Reverend Parris. First of all, in the beginning of the story Betty Parris is in a strange coma. The doctor had not the slightest idea of why Betty would not wake up, and due to this, the town spreads a rumor that witchcraft had caused Betty to fall into the coma. Parris finds out about this, and he immediately recalls when he found her and Abigail in the woods. If the townspeople were to find out that she was dancing in the woods, they would deem her a witch, and that would surely taint his status among the town. His attention shifts from his ill daughter to figuring out ways to keep his daughter and niece’s dancing a...
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...Arthur Miller’s The Crucible gives an insight into how reputation is one of the most crucial parts of colonial living in the 17th century. When living in a small colony, one’s reputation is linked to quality of life. Having a good name is necessary to do business, have friends, and, for the Puritans, being known as a religious person. Someone without a good name in the community would be rejected, and avoided by all other townspeople. This is noted in The Crucible, where characters like John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and Abigail went at great lengths to keep their reputations pure. But, is reputation, how other people see you, more important than integrity, how you see yourself? The Crucible’s protagonist, John Proctor, is a perfect example of how keeping one’s good name can lead someone to extreme actions. When the witch trials began, and John Proctor went to court to protect those he knew were innocent, he went as long as he could without admitting he had an affair with...
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...11 September 2016 The Crucible VS The Red Scare The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Red Scare relate because of the way the trials were held. The Crucible just like The Red Scare has something to do with convicting, killing innocent people and imprisoning. In the Salem witch trial, people were in trepidation of witch craft the same way that Americans were in apprehension of communism. Around this time and between The Cold War, Joseph McCarthy was a first-term senator from Wisconsin and he had won the election in 1946 after a campaign, which he then criticized all of his opponent’s failure to enlist during WWII. By the end of time, McCarthy lost some allies. He kept his job and lost his power. He died in 1957 at 48 years old. The Red Scare has always been said to be the most effective of WWI. The Salem witch trials didn’t have any type of cause and there were even some reports of more witchcraft in other towns. Arthur Miller had become very fascinated with the environment and how it affected society as a whole. Arthur also wrote an essay in 1996 called “Why I Wrote The Crucible; Authors answer...
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