Crucible Essay
Betrayals in The Crucible
In The Crucible, the community of Salem was depicted as motivated by fear, greed, and revenge shown by the witch trials. Some people of the community are afraid for their lives of being condemned a witch, while others take advantage of those fears. As a result, people will do anything to satisfy the motivation including betrayal. In The Crucible, three types of betrayal are evident which are the betrayal of oneself, theocracy, and community.
In Salem, the puritan society is supposed to be a community where everyone is tightly knit and demonstrates purity. However, this sense of unity is broken with betrayal; so therefore, the community of Salem does not actually exist.
Betrayal of community is the most evident theme of betrayal in Salem because of the idea of a broken community. Everyone in Salem is accusing one another of witchcraft for fear that they will be condemned. Therefore, this action is an effort to save one's own life and avoid suspicion. The Putnam’s are an example of this betrayal. Mrs. Putnam accuses Betty for having been seen flying over a neighbor's barn. This is shown on page 13, “How high did she fly, how high?” “Mr. Collins saw her goin' over Ingersoll's barn, and come down light as bird.” Before, the Putnam's brother in law was up for the candidacy for reverend, but Parris received the job. As a result, the Putnam’s retained a grudge against Parris and therefore on his daughter. Therefore, because of this grudge, Mrs. Putnam accused Betty of certain witch like activities even though she herself never saw the action. This demonstrates the betrayal of a member in the society because the Putnam’s try to condemn Betty from a grudge. Another example is of Danforth because he transforms this society from being religious to a courthouse. This is shown on page 85, “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” and on page 100, “I have been thirty-two year at the bar,
In The Crucible, the community of Salem was depicted as motivated by fear, greed, and revenge shown by the witch trials. Some people of the community are afraid for their lives of being condemned a witch, while others take advantage of those fears. As a result, people will do anything to satisfy the motivation including betrayal. In The Crucible, three types of betrayal are evident which are the betrayal of oneself, theocracy, and community.
In Salem, the puritan society is supposed to be a community where everyone is tightly knit and demonstrates purity. However, this sense of unity is broken with betrayal; so therefore, the community of Salem does not actually exist.
Betrayal of community is the most evident theme of betrayal in Salem because of the idea of a broken community. Everyone in Salem is accusing one another of witchcraft for fear that they will be condemned. Therefore, this action is an effort to save one's own life and avoid suspicion. The Putnam’s are an example of this betrayal. Mrs. Putnam accuses Betty for having been seen flying over a neighbor's barn. This is shown on page 13, “How high did she fly, how high?” “Mr. Collins saw her goin' over Ingersoll's barn, and come down light as bird.” Before, the Putnam's brother in law was up for the candidacy for reverend, but Parris received the job. As a result, the Putnam’s retained a grudge against Parris and therefore on his daughter. Therefore, because of this grudge, Mrs. Putnam accused Betty of certain witch like activities even though she herself never saw the action. This demonstrates the betrayal of a member in the society because the Putnam’s try to condemn Betty from a grudge. Another example is of Danforth because he transforms this society from being religious to a courthouse. This is shown on page 85, “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” and on page 100, “I have been thirty-two year at the bar,