... This recent outbreak has brought the attention of Salem, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John, is accused of witchery by Abigail and if not proven innocent, she will be executed. This is very major because Elizabeth is known as a very good Puritan with Christian values. Abigail, the young girl, who was at first accused, is now gaining power in the courthouse and starting to accuse others. There are many rumors of Abigail that she is not the sweet innocent girl that everybody believes she is. I am here to end these rumors for good and find out the answers from Abigail by investigating and interviewing her. For the first question of my investigation, I asked Abigail why she believes Elizabeth stabbed her in the stomach, she answered back, “Elizabeth Proctor is one of those who has other worldly powers and is involved with the Devil. She denies it even more which means that she can not even think her own thoughts.” As she finished her sentence, I started to notice that she was becoming awfully pale. When she finished her sentence I asked her why lead to the accusation of the witchcraft that Elizabeth has been secretly doing. She replied back, “I caught her playing with poppets for every person in Salem and even her own sons. Elizabeth was stabbing them with needles.” I asked Abigail if she is loyal to God. Abigail replied back nervously and less authoritative before saying, "Of course.... God lives in my heart and he has cleaned me and I am pure. I am living so that...
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...After reading the first three acts of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, one may conclude that the proceedings in Salem are the fault of Abigail Williams. Although some may blame John Proctor for the proceedings in Salem, in fact it is Abigail Williams to blame because Abigail was often lying or changing her story, she performs acts of witchery to end Elizabeth Proctor, and she falsely accuses others of witchery to take the attention off herself. Throughout the text, Abigail is constantly bending the truth to her own advantage. One of many examples of Abigail lying is when she is talking to her uncle Reverend Parris and says, “We did dance, uncle, and when you leaped out of the bush so suddenly, Betty was frightened and then she fainted. And there’s the whole of it” (Miller 9). She claims the story she told her uncle is the whole truth, but the audience knows that she drank blood because she thought it would help her end, Goody Proctor. Throughout the text, Abigail is constantly bending the truth to her own advantage. Abigail Williams is constantly lying to others or altering the truth to make sure her name is clear or to get her way....
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...during McCarthy era, Communism haunted America. During the McCarthy era and the Salem Witch Trials, people became so scared of accusations of witchery or Communism that they proceeded to try almost anything to keep themselves out of harm. The Crucible shows a symbolism of McCarthyism in the 1950’s In the beginning of The Crucible, flaws in the Puritan religion shine through Parris. Parris, too drawn up in himself, worried only about his reputation, so when Abigail won’t tell him what happened he yells to her, “I have sought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people...
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...In the court system today, we abide by the words “Innocent until proven guilty”, but in 1692, in Salem Massachusetts it was completely different, they did not believe in the quote “Innocent until proven guilty”. If you were accused, then you must be guilty, that’s how it was in 1692 in Salem. In the book The Crucible, John Proctor is admitting to committing adultery. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Miller uses John Proctor to show how someone can stand up for what he or she believes in, and how society should uphold the idea of “Innocent until proven guilty”. John Proctor has decided to admit that he had committed adultery. John has kicked Abigail out of his and Elizabeth’s service. John says him and Elizabeth asked Abigail to leave, John says it is because what him and Abigail are doing. John starts going to the court, then he decided to admit to what he had done with Abigail. Why did John confess to committing adultery? Reverend Hale has came upon Salem, to join in the court. Hale has came to the Proctors home. Hale is asking them if they have anything to do with satan. John tells Hale “There is no love for Satan in this house, mister” (Miller Act II) Hale has John and recite the Ten Commandments, he...
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...The Revolution in Salem: John Proctor The Crucible was a pay that was written by Arthur Miller in 1952 because he was accused of being a communist and he didn't agree with McCarthyism. During the Cold War many were accused of McCarthyism, which is making accusations without proper evidence, and Arthur Miller was a victim of this. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as an allegory to McCarthyism. Arthur Miller wrote about people being accused of involvement with witchcraft. Throughout the play The Crucible many of the characters are changing because of what is happening around them, with everyone getting accused of witchcraft. One of the main dynamic characters, a character that has a significant change in attitude, personality, or behavior, in this play is John Proctor. John Proctor is a considered an honest man in Salem. In the first two or three acts we see that John Proctor could be considered non-religious. John Proctor wasn’t very religious...
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...Arthur Miller wrote”The Crucible” so he could shed light on the fact Joseph McCarthy was doing the same thing as the judges in salem. In both cases people were accused and they were guilty until proven innocent. Also the courts had no proof that anybody was guilty. They say history repeats itself and looking back it shows exactly that. McCarthyism and “The Crucible” are very much alike in the fact they both made big deals out of nothing just to get head in their lives with no regard no how it would make others feel. Also the trials were not fair because in both situations it was either admit your guilt or be punished. It ruined the lives of people who were accused. “How may i live without my name? I have given you my soul leave me my name”...
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...John Proctor, one of the main characters in The Crucible, has a crucible moment after having an affair with Abigail. Although John and Elizabeth are married, he cheats on her with Abigail. Proctor’s crucible moment within the play happens when he has to make a decision to either tell his wife about the affair, or keep it a secret, and feel guilty for the rest of his life. Because John can not forgive himself after the affair, he decides to tell Elizabeth about what happened. John Proctor passes the crucible test because he did the right thing even though his relationship with his wife will never be the same. Now that Elizabeth knows the truth, John now feels guilty about what he has done because his wife is upset with him. The wrong thing John...
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...Sarah Clay Ms. Hans Amstud English 10H 23 April 2018 The Crucible Essay One connection that is often overlooked is that Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible in the late nineteen forties and early nineteen fifties at a time when America had developed a newfound fear of communism and politicians were investigating people, accusing them of being communists and wrongly prosecuting them. It has been said that Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible because he was fascinated with the Salem Witch Trials and because he wanted to remind people who had forgotten about the fear and shame that resulted from so many innocent people who were found guilty of being witches and hanged. Arthur Miller used his writings in the Crucible to tell the world that a community...
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...Having someone executed for a false accusation is an extremely horrid offense. Although, in 1692 to 1693, it was a trend upon the people of Salem. Arthur Miller specifically wrote The Crucible about The Red Scare so this generation could know how there was a lack of knowledge among the men and women in the court. “It would probably never have occurred to me to write a play about the Salem witch trials of 1692 had I not seen some astonishing correspondences with that calamity in the America of the late 40s and early 50s. My basic need was to respond to a phenomenon which, with only small exaggeration, one could say paralyzed a whole generation and in a short time dried up the habits of trust and toleration in public discourse,” Miller states...
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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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...Jealousy and Greediness in The Crucible Have you ever been involved in an action that led to a tragic consequence because of someone’s jealousy or greediness? The quote by Victor Hugo stated, “Society is a republic. When an individual tries to lift themselves above others, they are dragged down by masses, either by ridicule or slander.” This means he strongly believes that when someone tries to act better than other people they feel like the need to put others down by making fun of them. Therefore it can led into bad consequences. In the book, The Crucible by Arthur Miller shows this by the character named Abigail who tried bringing down everybody because of her jealousy, Putman who showed greediness with land, and also in my experience this has happened to a close friend of mine whom was very selfish. The Crucible also can relate to the real world. We’ve at least witnessed a person's flaws on human nature that went wrong at the end. A old friend of mine seemed to have jealousy of a girl that happened to be taken by a guy...
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...The protagonist of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, John Proctor, passes his extreme test because he is willing to put his life and reputation at risk to free Elizabeth from all of her troubles. John’s past affair with the jealous Abigail Williams is no secret to Elizabeth. Determined to do anything she can to accuse Elizabeth of witchcraft, Abigail makes up many lies about her like accusing her of implanting a needle in a doll. John finally sees that there is only one way to stop the hysteria in Salem: to admit his sin of adultery. “I have known her, sir. I have known her”(1145). Proctor faces one of his crucible moments in the play, when he tells the court he committed the crime of adultery, and he passes. He confesses in front of the court and the judges that he himself was an adulterer. Proctor feels he owed this to Elizabeth. He wants to make up for...
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...The statement “A person is innocent until proven guilty” means that you have a say in anything / everything before you are proven guilty. When you are accused of doing something, it is only fair to be given a fair trial to prove yourself innocent. If you have no chance to prove your innocence then obviously you are going to be found guilty even if you actually aren’t. It would be a fair trial if you are being accused of something and you have your evidence to back you up instead it being a slanderous statement against you. In my opinion if someone was accused of doing something, but they had no evidence to prove him or her guilty, then that person should face no charges, or punishments. If someone were to be falsely accused and put into jail for any amount of time is unfair and pointless because they had no evidence in the first place so they shouldn’t have the power to put someone in jail, just because they think it was that person.The person that was falsely accused could have had children and he would've been gone for a huge portion of his or her life just because people thought it was him that did said crime. In The Crucible many women were accused of being a witch for no apparent reason. This got so bad that 12 of the accused women were executed. During these executions there was no proof of these women being witches but they were still...
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...America, The Bill of Rights states that everyone is “innocent until proven guilty.” In the Salem Witch Trials, this right was not in effect. The judges accused people of being witches without any real evidence, they were guilty until proven innocent. However, Reverend Hale was one voice of reason. In The Crucible, Reverend Hale goes from assisting the accusers of witchcraft, to denouncing the accusations. In the beginning of The Crucible, Reverend Hale is somewhat skeptical, but doesn’t reject the idea that there are witches in Salem. When he arrives, he states, “We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.” (Miller 1146) This tells me that Hale is not ready to do something impetuous, and wants to do some investigating before anyone is indicted of any wrongdoing. Hale is a holy man, but also a man of substance and...
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...Many of the characters in the play, The Crucible, all have a lot of pride. Most of them are considered good citizens who would all like to keep and maintain their good name. Reverend Parris is known for living by the bible and its teachings. Judge Danforth is known as a persistent judge who always make the right decisions. When put between the option of life or death, all of these characters chose to keep their reputations by doing the right thing and saving their lives. The importance of having a good name is a very important theme in The Crucible as shown by these characters. John Proctor was a very courageous man. He was the town’s model citizen and the person that everyone looked up to as a leader. For many reasons it is hard for Proctor to give up his good name. One being because he has a lot of respect for it and everyone sees him as the good guy. When Proctor had an affair with Abigail Williams he tries to show that she is guilty although he is hesitant...
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