Essay On Faith In The Crucible

In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the Puritans take part of a government that is based solely on the Bible. The good faith of the townspeople is quickly changed as many of the town’s high-standing citizens are accused of witchcraft, tried, and even hanged. In The Crucible, fear and faith relate very closely with the decisions that are made throughout the course of the trials and hangings of the Salem Witch Trials. To have faith in something, you must have complete confidence or trust in such an object or person. In this society, faith wasn’t just a simple everyday word. It was their lifestyle; it was everything that the Puritans stood for. They put all their faith in God and looked to Him for all answers. In act two of The Crucible, morally superior Rebecca Nurse is accused of witchcraft. Her faith and belief that God damns all liars keeps her from falsely confessing which leads to her hanging for a reason not worth her life (240). Rebecca is one of the few that chose to stand by their faith, not tell a lie to save her life, and keep the false belief of witchcraft from spreading. This faith, or lack-there-of, was soon
transformed into fear for many of the village’s powerful people were suspected, tried, and hanged. Fear is an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger, and in The Crucible, is strongly related to faith of the Puritan people. Numerous of the first that were accused were homeless women that weren’t visually appealing. The other villagers were content with those accusations and convictions and went on with their mundane lives. As the number of accusations toward the more powerful people of the town grew, as did the fear that any townsperson could be next. In act three of The Crucible, Giles Corey accuses Thomas Putnam of “…killing his neighbors for their land!” (214). When asked as to whom gave him this information, Giles Corey refuses to give his “informant’s” name. Corey responds with, “You know well why not! He’ll lay in jail if I give his name!” (214). His fear of getting another into trouble and his lack of faith in the justice system keep him from giving Deputy Danforth his informant’s name. Both faith and fear closely relate to each other in the decision in this world. Fear and faith became one throughout the Salem Witch Trials.
The people indicted were afraid to keep their faith. If they did not keep their faith, then they would be damned to Hell. Fear was the driving force in their decision to lie. Yet, if they did keep their faith, they would be killed for it. These people were more worried by the judgment, they will receive entering the gates of heaven. The relationship between faith and fear in The Crucible slowly grows as the play progresses. Without one of these aspects of the story, then the play would have no purpose. Without fear, the entire Salem Witch Trials might have not even happened. Without faith, the number accused and people in the prisons would greatly increase. The fear and faith in The Crucible directly correlate to the outcome and decisions made throughout the Salem Witch
Trials.