In 1954, playwright Arthur Miller was questioned by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) as part of a series of trials remarkably similar to the witch trials portrayed in his play The Crucible, written two years previously. Just over forty years later, with HUAC long out of power, The Crucible became a film with a budget of $25 million, produced by the well-known Twentieth-Century Fox Film Corporation (IMDb). The perseverance of this story is a testament to its intriguing portrayal of power struggle during the Salem witch trials that applies to many situations even today. The movie version of the play alters the text and storyline; in particular, the scene in which Tituba is accused and confesses was changed in several ways in order to focus on the details of the witch trials that made them so effective. …show more content…
In the play, Tituba suggests that “somebody else be witchin’ these children,” and states that “the Devil got him numerous witches” (45). This sparks Hale’s interest and leads to the demands that she accuse others in Salem of witchcraft. In the movie, Hale is the first to bring up the idea of other witches. He asks Tituba if she has seen others with the Devil, which prompts Goody Putnam to begin demanding if various people she dislikes in the town are witches. By changing the instigator of the multiple-witch idea, the movie removes an aspect of human nature from Tituba, the instinct to put the blame onto someone else. In the play, Tituba brings up the idea that there are multiple witches in a natural move to remove the blame from herself. In the movie, Tituba accuses others because she is led to do so by Hale and Goody Putnam’s questions. In the play, Tituba is internally motivated; in the movie, she is externally motivated. This makes Tituba seem less like an individual motivated self-preservation and focuses more on the self-fulfilling nature of the witch