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The Crucible

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The Crucible
“The Crucible” Ignorance is bliss is a common saying that relates to Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials. Arthur Miller, a player writer of “The Crucible” portrays what it was like during this time period. A young Puritan girl, Betty Parris, spreads rumors throughout the town causing innocent peoples death. By the end of this time people would have been better off not knowing what happened; Betty Parris is to blame for the tragedies of Salem, Massachusetts. For example, after Betty was playing sick she rises from the bed, a fever in her eyes, and picks up the chant, “I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the devil! I saw Martha Bellows with the devil!” (1262-1263). Betty’s voice was one of many, but sometimes the person who is the quietest and follows a crowd is the one who sticks out the most. The girls are expressing their anger by blaming innocent people of being witches so they are not the only ones being accused of witchcraft.
In addition, in the courtroom Mary Warren, utterly confounded and becoming overwhelmed by Betty –and the girls’- utter conviction, starts to whimper, hands half raised, powerless, and all the girls began whimpering exactly as Mary Warren (1312-1313). Danforth, the judge, believes Betty and the girls are possessed by the devil and are not able to stop mimicking Mrs. Warren. Betty is capable of stopping the lies of being possessed but she continues to give the people of Salem what they want to
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