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Hysteria In The Crucible Essay

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1. The nature of hysteria presents itself in the novel in a distinct way. The people of Salem become paranoid as word of “the Devil’s presence” spreads through the town. This paranoia unfortunately results in many innocent towns’ people being unjustly accused of witch craft by the group of young girls lead by Abigail Williams. Soon enough, the fear of the Devil takes over the lives of the people of Salem and slowly tears the town apart. While Goody Proctor keeps to her home on the farm, she is informed by Mary Warren that there were “fourteen people in jail” soon after the trials began (Miller 50). Abigail uses her influence and “innocence” in order to convince the court that so many people had been toiling with the Devil. Her manipulative …show more content…
There is no doubt that gun violence has gone up in the U.S. over the years but when people panic and jump to the conclusion that it is imperative to take guns away completely, they do not think about what that would mean for this country. By taking guns away from law abiding citizens along with those who pose a threat to society by carrying guns, the criminals who do not care about the law will find a way to get their hands on guns anyways. Society has become obsessed with the violence guns cause, but what they should be afraid of is actually the people behind the trigger. Taking guns away from all will not stop the violence and terror on the streets. Gangs will still find a way to reach these weapons, while the law abiding citizens will stand defenseless in the wake of gun violence. By regulating who is able to purchase guns, educating people on how to properly use them, and keeping guns from those that do not meet the proper psychological qualifications and have criminal records, the problem of gun violence will significantly decrease. This is very similar to the problem seen in The Crucible, the public hears of a few stories about a problem in their community and instead of finding a way to resolve the problem, they immediately want to liquidate the community of the “witches”. The truth often becomes obscured in the wake of gossip and the media and the public becomes

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