Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"



Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"

Introduction

The Crucible takes place during the times of the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. This was a time of much hypocrisy in the people of the town of Salem. Many people believed anything they heard or saw. Although The Crucible is fictitious, the story depicts the historical information of the Salem witch trials, and blends them with fictitious characters with minds of their own to create a very realistic plot and conflict in this story.

Discussion

Arthur Miller develops Abigail Williams as an evil character. She tempts Proctor into lechery, and come its illegal acts which all are against the Puritan religion. To escape punishment for dancing, she deflects the actions and blames them on someone else, and does not care how many lives she destroys. Later when she grows into power and influence, she seems to enjoy sending these innocent people their deaths. This story has a few themes that are shown through the actions and the thoughts of the characters (Miller, 1976). One theme that I felt had an impact on the outcome of the story is Fear and suspicion can produce hysteria which results in the destruction and breakdown of the people. The thesis of the story is shown by people's actions people can become suspicious of one thing and this leads to an uprising in the town and the people. The story begins with the dancing of the girls in the forest. When the girls are seen they become scared and run off. This is what leads to the uprising in the town. The Puritans are viewed as being very religious they believe in God and everything he did for them (Douglass, 1963).

They believe in an unconditional election in which God has no obligation to save anyone, no ...