Examples Of Courage In The Crucible

"The Crucible" Theme Essay
Courage

Truly courage played an important role in the Salem Witch Trials, and it may have been one of the key reasons the gruesome Salem Witch Trials finally came to its end. The courage shown by people impacted others during this time period by forcing people to acknowledge their viewpoints, which led to the end of the trials. Courage was displayed in three ways, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Emotional courage means showing courage without physical means and being courageous with words and felling. Physical courage means to be courageous with action. Lastly, spiritual courage means to be courageous in the sense that one shows courage in spirit, meaning courage shown indirectly, unlike emotional or
physical courage.
Emotional courage was the most widely displayed type of courage during the Salem Witch Trials. Several people were emotionally courageous because they didn't have the power to show physical courage and in many cases, emotional courage impacted the society of Salem more powerfully than physical courage. For example, women during this time period had little power, therefore unable to display their courage physically. However, several women showed strong emotional courage. An example of this would be Abigail. Despite being a girl, Abigail was very manipulative, and displayed courage in leading the girls in Salem. An example of this is shown in the text on page 1223 in the text. Abigail says, "Listen now; if they be questioning us, tell them we danced—I told him as much already." This quote shows that Abigail is very forceful, and is showing that she is courageous because she is taking lead of the girls, which is dangerous because if their ruse is found out, she will be the most severely punished for being the leader. Not only did the women show emotional courage, but men did as well. Several men could not act with physical courage against the court of Salem because of its power. Therefore they showed emotional courage, which was dangerous as well. For example, Francis stood up to the court in order to save his family. On page 1255, Francis said, "Excellency, I never thought to say it to such a weighty judge, but you are deceived." Francis was taking a great risk and showing great courage in saying this because going against the court was an easy way to be accused of witchcraft. Emotional courage held great weight and eventually showed society of the falseness of the Salem Witchcraft Trials.
Although emotional courage may in some cases be more powerful than physical courage, physical courage was the hardest to display due to the power held by the accusers of witchcraft, and most of the time physical courage was the most meaningful way to show a view point.
One of the main people to show his courage was John Proctor. John Proctor soon became widely known to be against the Trials through his acts. For example, when the court claimed the Elizabeth might have had hidden poppets for witchcraft, John was furious and physically tried to stop them from taking Elizabeth for questioning. In the text on page 1247, he furiously said, "I'll tell you what's walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law! This warrant's vengeance! I'll not give my wife to vengeance!" This quote showed that Proctor was disagreeing with the court, and emphasized it by trying to prevent Elizabeth from being taken away. Also, even though Abigail was a girl, she showed physical courage as well, which was uncommon for women to show in the Puritan society. On page 1219 she says, "Speak nothin' of it in the village, Susanna. I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you . . .. I can make you wish you had never seen the sun go down!" This showed that she was being physically courageous because if
the girls told anyone of what actually happened, then Abigail would have been in deep trouble. Although in some cases physical courage encouraged the growth of the Salem Witch Trials, ultimately it ended the hanging of several people and brought down the infamous Trials.
Although spiritual courage was not as strong as physical or emotional courade, it also played a part in impacting the society of Salem.
Spiritual courage could be described as indirect courage shown by people. Many people were frightened by the court and risked being accused of witchcraft if they displayed emotional or physical courage. Therefore, they displayed spiritual courage, which was still dangerous and still led to the courts anger. For example, Mary Warren displayed spiritual courage when she disobeyed Abigail's orders, as shown on p 1256. Proctor says, "Your honor my wife never kept no poppets. Mary Warren confess it was her popper." When Mary Warren confessed it was her poppet, and not Elizabeth's, she was indirectly, or spiritually, being courageous because she was contradicting Abigail's story, which was very dangerous due to Abigail's power in the Trials. Another example of spiritual courage was displayed by several people signing a paper against the Trials. Although Giles was the one at the most risk because he was the one presenting the paper to Danforth, the judge, the people who signed the paper were showing spiritual courage because they indirectly were opposing the court. They were still in danger because although Giles assured them that he would not reveal their names, Giles was forced to hand over the list as shown on page 1251. Giles says, "Mr. Danforth, I gave them all my word no harm would come to them for signing this." This quote shows that
Danforth was forcing the list of names to be given to him, therefore endangering the people who had signed it. Spiritual courage was displayed by many and in the end it also played its role in ending the power of the proponents of the Salem Witch Trials.
The courage shown in the Salem Witch Trials was a definite factor in ending the Trials. The types of courage shown, whether they were physical, emotional, or spiritual, all impacted the society with force and made the people of Salem realize the invalidity of the accusations of witchcraft, which ultimately led to the end of the Salem Witch Trials, and the end of the many innocent deaths it had caused.