Preview

The Crucible: Evil and Greed in Man

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
515 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Crucible: Evil and Greed in Man
The Crucible: Evil and Greed In Man

High personal, acquisitions, evil desires and massive greed took part in shortening the fuse of the chaotic corruption of the Salem witch trials. Amidst the quiet and peaceful period of the Puritan era in America, not everything seemed as they were. Disorder and sin heightened the animosity and deteriorated the very center of a solemn and strong virtuous society. The Puritan belief in the basic evil of man is evident in Arthur Millers The Crucible through the actions of Abigail Williams and Reverend Parris.

The main character who first brings forth this ruckus is Abigail Williams. Her desire directs towards John Procter, a married man, and she does anything to win his heart. She even tries to put a hex on his wife, Elizabeth Procter. When
Betty awakens and confronts Abigail, about the spell, "You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Procters wife" (Miller 19). This quote allows the reader to become aware of the severity of Abbys ruthlessness. Her loathing of
Mrs. Procter goes to such great lengths that she would go beyond the point of extremities. An example of her demonic acts, is when she mutilates her stomach with a sewing needle and claims it to be Elizabeth Procters voodoo spell. "and struck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle outshe testify it were your familiar spirit pushed it in." (Miller 71). From this, it can be conceived that she would disastrously knock down any obstacle to get what she wanted. Another character who brings greed upon themselves is the Reverend Parris. He uses his high social status as a priest as an excuse to obtain that of which he considers is a requirement for such a prestigious man as he believes to be. In an argument between Reverend Parris and Giles Cory, Giles disagrees on Parris having ownership of the chapel house and the amount of money he gets for his services. "Mr. Cory, you will look far for a man of my kind at sixty pound a year!" (Miller 28). His selfish

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hale Tragic Hero Essay

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages

    himself to be of the greatest intellectuals in Europe, and he knows that being chosen…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is praised to be a place that is fair and just. However, no country is perfect and one of the more unfavorable aspects of America is a problem that has been a problem that goes back to the 1600s. The issue Americans face are within the legal systems and are caused by the biases of judges and jurors across American courts. America is not alone in this problem, but for a first world country this issue is more common than it should be. In America’s modern day society there are many cases of discrimination based on physical appearances in court, as there were in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, which needs to be stopped, because it is in violation of Civil Rights Act of 1964.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Alexandra Rodriguez, Sydnie Sephton Mrs. Philipose Humanities 1 - 1st 20 February 2018 Prompt #2 Ethan seemed moral in the beginning, but slowly got out of it by cheating on his wife with her cousin, Mattie. He seemed to spend as much time with her as possible, and got close to her whenever he had the opportunity to do so. Zenobia showed to be sickly more frequently throughout the years she spent married to Ethan. She went out for days at times, just to go to various doctors. He gave her enough by providing the money she needed (among other human necessities), yet never more than that.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From literature we learn that people are deceiving and opportunist seeking personal desires and wealth. In The Crucible Betty says “you did, you did! you drank a charm to kill John Proctor’s wife! You drank a charm to kill goody Proctor” (Miller 148). In this quote Miller demonstrates how much a person is willing to endure to reach their goal.…

    • 308 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Author Miller in his play The Crucible explores the lives of people who strictly live under the church’s authority in a theocratic society during the 1690s in Salem, Massachusetts. A community of Puritans with their strong beliefs will cause a paranoia in their entire village. The ministers of the church afraid of losing their power will do anything to keep it. Other individuals seek power for their own personal vendetta. With the use of direct characterization, allusion, and irony Miller shows his readers who has the power, who fears it, and who wants in The Crucible.…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Within this passage of The Crucible a major theme is brought up, that is good vs evil. The book talks about how society uses these polar opposites to explain away some of the more complex concepts in life. An example of this is shown in this passage when Mrs. Putnam asks, “Is it a natural work to lose seven children before they live a day?” (Miller 45). In her lack of understanding the nature of child death Mrs. Putnam begins to blame the Devil for the misfortune that has befallen her. Mrs. Putnam, much like the rest of society, has used the concept of good and evil, in this case God and the Devil, in order to explain greater phenomenon in life. The book presents us with the idea that evil, what everyone perceives as unjust, is something…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Vocation of Eloquence

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “Let us suppose that some intelligent man has been chasing status symbols all his life, until suddenly the bottom falls out of his world and he sees no reason for going on. He can’t make his solid gold Cadillac represent his success or his reputation or his sexual potency anymore: now it seem to him only absurd and a little pathetic. No psychiatrist or clergyman can do him any good, because his state of mind is neither sick nor sinful: he’s wrestling with his angel. He discovers immediately that he wants more education, and he wants in the same way that a starving man wants food. But he wants education of a particular kind. His intelligence and emotions may be quite well be in fine shape. It’s his imagination that’s been staved and fed on shadows, and its education in that that he specifically wants and needs.”…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, deals with erratic superstitions of alleged accusations of witchcraft along with trials of those people who are linked to the devil. The alleged accusations of people along with trials of those people who are linked to the devil relate to themes in our lives. These themes include power, fear, hysteria, logic, illogic, and pride. Based on the behavior of the characters in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, it is not unlike our society as ideals that are unfamiliar to us may drive us into fear and hysteria as well.…

    • 975 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible Allegory

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many people today have read Arthur Miller’s great play “The Crucible” and believe that the real witch trials were portrayed in the play but many of the facts are not particularly wrong but might be twisted. There are many proven facts that some of the story is not true to the real life events and this confuses many people because “Arthur Miller makes his characters so vivid and actually used the real names of the people that were in the trials”(Salem Witch Museum). It has been proven that Arthur changed the story on purpose to use it as an allegory for the anti-communist Red Scare to get across to the government of what they were actually doing. In the beginning of the play Arthur admits to altering the play for dramatic effect.…

    • 1014 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Crucible

    • 1925 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were a caliginous time in American history. The moral superiority that engulfs the town in a time of great despair and deep divide accurately sums up the atmosphere of that period of injustice that will forever stain the town of Salem, Massachusetts. This is the subject matter for the play entitled “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller in 1953. According to the Teacher Vision “The play was adapted for film once, by Jean-Paul Sartre as the 1958 film Les Sorcières de Salem and by Arthur Miller himself as the 1996 film The Crucible, the latter with a cast including Paul Scofield, Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. Miller's adaptation earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Previously Produced Material, his only nomination. The play was adapted by composer Robert Ward into an opera, The Crucible, which was first performed in 1961 and received the Pulitzer Prize”. (“The Crucible” Teacher Vision; Family Education Network, 2001-2012. web. Nov 23, 2012. http://www.teachervision.fen.com/historical-fiction/literature-guide/3498.html)…

    • 1925 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Decision making can either make or break someone. The Salem Witch Trials consisted of many false accusations and unnecessary deaths. Arthur Miller portrayed the symptoms of “groupthink”, written by Irvin Janis, during the course of The Crucible. Janis’ article explores the psychology of decision making among a group. The major symptoms that seem to manifest The Crucible are self-censorship, pressure, and mindguards.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible

    • 1728 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “Fear is simply the consequence of every lie”~Fyodor Dostoyevski. Dostoyevski explains that fear and lying come hand to hand. Telling lies creates a fear of being discovered having told a lie. In addition, one only conjures a lie if there is something to hide. Therefore the discovery of secrets also induces fear. Fear, whether it be fear of life, or reputation, can heavily influence the actions of society. It possess the ability to impair the judgement and actions of people. Similarly, in The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the townspeople are completely ruled by fear. This fear is mainly caused by the strict punishments given to those who violate Puritan morals. It also brings along a sense that one must protect his own life and interests. This need for self-preservation leads to widespread denial and in some cases, even the accusation of others. Governed by the terror of Puritanical law, the townspeople learn to fear its consequences and become quick to deny and accuse others of witchcraft to save themselves, which ultimately leads to the tragic death of innocent citizens…

    • 1728 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Crucible

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Topic 6: At the end of the play, Reverend hale insists that John Proctor”s desire to hang instead of admitting that he was consorting with the devil is an act of excessive pride or stubbornness. Proctor’s self-sacrifice is not more than a petulant act of excessive pride.…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Williams, Betty Parris and many more characters are found in this play. Find out how the accuse…

    • 920 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A man who is beginning to distinguish himself at the very highest level amongst his peers, and where none can say a bad word against him?…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays