Judgment as a Theme in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
The Crucible: Judgment
The definition of judgment according to Encarta Encyclopedia, is the formation of an opinion. It is a simple definition,clear and direct. Although, there is more to the word judgment than meets the eye. What about the last word in the definition? What is an opinion? An opinion is described as a belief or conclusion that is held without any substantial proof. That word might not seem to have too much significance at this very moment, but it did back in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch scare. Making a judgment on somebody may seem harmless, but it can be very destructive.
The citizens of Salem made judgments on their neighbors, forming opinions that they might be witches. Those solitary judgments led to many peoples' deaths, their judgment of witchcraft were wrong. Arthur Miller gives people some insight into the Salem witch trials in his play, The Crucible, which shows how the peoples' poor judgment led to hysteria and tragedy in the community of Salem. It also shows how the people changed because of this witch scare that ran furiously through the town.
Take for example John Proctor, proctor is a good man that is married and has three boys and lives a good life as a citizen of Salem. He does his job as a farmer, father, and Christian, but because he didn't go to church often he was depicted as a minion of the devil. Christianity played a huge role in Salem and if one was not religious they were immediately seen as a bad person. As read in The Crucible, 180, “such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month”, shows that Proctor did and does care about religion but he doesn't show it as much by going to church everyday or week. He believes in it so much that he will not let the town priest, Parris, baptize his youngest son even though he's “ordained by God”(168).
Another role that was judged out of pure jealousy was poor innocent Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is a normal mom who has to deal with the pain of
The definition of judgment according to Encarta Encyclopedia, is the formation of an opinion. It is a simple definition,clear and direct. Although, there is more to the word judgment than meets the eye. What about the last word in the definition? What is an opinion? An opinion is described as a belief or conclusion that is held without any substantial proof. That word might not seem to have too much significance at this very moment, but it did back in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, during the witch scare. Making a judgment on somebody may seem harmless, but it can be very destructive.
The citizens of Salem made judgments on their neighbors, forming opinions that they might be witches. Those solitary judgments led to many peoples' deaths, their judgment of witchcraft were wrong. Arthur Miller gives people some insight into the Salem witch trials in his play, The Crucible, which shows how the peoples' poor judgment led to hysteria and tragedy in the community of Salem. It also shows how the people changed because of this witch scare that ran furiously through the town.
Take for example John Proctor, proctor is a good man that is married and has three boys and lives a good life as a citizen of Salem. He does his job as a farmer, father, and Christian, but because he didn't go to church often he was depicted as a minion of the devil. Christianity played a huge role in Salem and if one was not religious they were immediately seen as a bad person. As read in The Crucible, 180, “such a Christian that will not come to church but once in a month”, shows that Proctor did and does care about religion but he doesn't show it as much by going to church everyday or week. He believes in it so much that he will not let the town priest, Parris, baptize his youngest son even though he's “ordained by God”(168).
Another role that was judged out of pure jealousy was poor innocent Elizabeth Proctor. Elizabeth is a normal mom who has to deal with the pain of