Valerie Delgado 1/14/11

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 during the McCarthy Era, when Americans were accusing each other of Pro-Communist beliefs. Many of Miller’s friends were being attacked as communists and Miller himself was brought up guilty of beliefs in communism. Miller was getting sick of this so he put his writing techniques in action and wrote a play called The Crucible to show the injustices. This playwright uses the Salem Witch trials as an allegory to the US injustices toward suspected Communists. The Crucible is set against the backdrop of the mad witch hunts of the Salem witch trials, where innocent people were being accused and hung because of witchcraft. Miller portrays a character that is known as a tragic hero, strong but flawed, to fight against the injustice of the town and to show that a tragic hero can still do what he believes is best even when the majority of society is influenced by lies.
The character that Miller chooses to be his Greek tragic hero is John Proctor, who is a good, well known, and respected man in Salem. It is evident that John Proctor fulfills the requirements of the Greek Tragic hero because of his many positive traits, such as his noble characteristics, his honorable and righteous qualities, and always believing in himself fighting for what is true. However, he had a fatal flaw that showed the darker side to his perfect characteristics. His flaw is committing adultery towards his wife. Before the play began, Proctor’s lust for Abigail Williams, who was once the servant for the Proctor household and Reverend Parris’ niece, led him to have an affair with her. This is what set the entire plot of the play because after the affair Elizabeth, his wife, fired Abigail and caused Abigail to become jealous of her. The affair drove Abigail to want John Proctor all to herself and do anything to get