The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay - 532 Words

â€Å"The Crucible† In 1692, countless innocent people were hanged, tortured, or stripped of their reputation because they were falsely accused of being a witch. They would have to falsely confess to save their lives, or else have their reputation be defaced. Arthur Miller shows the chaos of people constantly living in fear that their neighbor would become greedy, and falsely accuse them of being something that they were not. Miller does this through the book â€Å"The Crucible†. Motives of revenge, greed, and peer pressure contribute to the hysteria and hangings in the Salem Witch Trials. Just one motive that contributed to the chaos was revenge. Many examples of revenge pop up throughout the book. It is human nature for a person to seek†¦show more content†¦He told his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft, and he kills his neighbors for their land. Revenge wasn’t the only motive, another was greed, and greed was worse. Greed is the motive that drives the story. Someone knowing that they could obtain your land simply by accusing you of witchcraft was irresistible. Thomas Putnam was just one out of the many that fell victim to greed. He killed his neighbors and accused other people of the murder, just to acquire their land. Abigail was another greedy character in this story. She single-handedly destroyed most of the reputations of the people in the town. Her greed for Proctor was so great that she accused Elizabeth of witchcraft, and almost had her killed. Another cause of the hysteria was peer pressure. Peer pressure was what started the Salem Witch Hunt of 1692. The girls pressured each other to conform to one story, and they succumb to that peer pressure. The general form of peer pressure in the story was to get other people t ¬o confess to witchcraft. The girls mock Mary Warren while she is in court, and then Abigail pretends that Mary has taken the form of a bird and is trying to attack her. The mocking is a form of peer pressure, and they are trying to get Mary to confess. Reverend Hale accuses Proctor of being a lecher. Even though this accusation is correct, being known as a lecher would be just as worse as being known as a witch. Peer pressure drivesShow MoreRelatedThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1269 Words   |  6 PagesAt first glance, the playwright Arthur Miller in The Crucible highlights the historical significance of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but in fact it is an allegorical expression of his perception of McCarthyism. If the reader has some background informati on on Arthur Miller’s victimization as a communist, it is evident that the play is a didactic vessel illustrating the flaws of the court system in the 1950’s. The communist allegations were launched at government employees, entertainers and writersRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1681 Words   |  7 Pagesof their way to the last dying breath to make sure they leave with a good or bad reputation. In one of the recent literature study in class â€Å"The Crucible† by Arthur Miller, Miller uses characterization to illustrate reputation throughout the play. â€Å"The Crucible† takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. It is based upon the Salem witch trails. In â€Å"The Crucible†, we journey through the life of three characters who reputations plays a major role in the play. The three characters are John Proctor, AbigailRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1333 Words   |  6 PagesAs the various characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller interac t, the dominant theme of the consequences of women’s nonconformity begins to slide out from behind the curtains of the play. Such a theme reveals the gripping fear that inundated the Puritans during the seventeenth century. This fear led to the famous witch-hunts that primarily terrorized women who deviated from the Puritan vision of absolute obedience and orthodoxy. 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The five-act structure helped to expand the three act structure, mainly made famous by Shakespeare through his many tragedies. Even though The Crucible contains only four acts, it still has the commonRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1052 Words   |  5 PagesBuddy Al-Aydi Ms.Healy English 9 CP 14th October 2014 The Crucible Essay The Crucible was a novel written by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s. It was written in a format of the play, portraying an allegory of the Salem Witch-Hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. The book is known to have a inexplicable plot. This plot is advanced by multiple characters in the book in order to ensure that the reader maintains interest with the material that is being read. The farmer, John Proctor, would be theRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller841 Words   |  4 PagesThe Crucible is a chaotic play, throughout this American classic Arthur Miller takes the reader through multiple events of terror and insanity. While creating a great on-stage play, Arthur Miller portrays his life through the events, the characters, and plot of The Crucible. Using vivid imagery and comprehensible symbolism, Miller manipulates the real personalities of the characters and events in 1600 Salem, Massachusetts to create a symbolic autobiography. Throughout this play, the reader experie nces