The Crucible Research Paper
English 11H 5A
13 May 2013
Crucible Paper The witch trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts are evidently a part of the development of the United States of America. The crucible started from a collection of girls who showed strange behaviors that were mistaken as commands from the devil by the strict Puritan populace. False testimonies, jealousy and grudges used as ammunitions to fuel the hysteria. The trials successfully depicted how intolerance and hysteria can combine to tear even the strongest community like Salem apart. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller who was inspired by the Salem witch trials, John Proctor, a local farmer that lives just outside of Salem, is originally a good Puritan; however he has committed lechery …show more content…
Elizabeth tries to talk Proctor into perjury, and after wrestling with his conscience, he complies. However, he changes his decision when Judge Hawthorne and Judge Danforth ask him to sign the false confession as proof of his witchcraft, so the paper may be hanged on the church door for the mass to see. Under pressure, he signs the paper and immediately tears the sheet afterwards. He argues that it is already bashful enough that the higher society sees him as a vulnerable sinner, and the rest of the town does not need to see him as a shame either. His refusal to subordinate to the court’s rules separates him from the others that are accused. Although he could have saved his own life, like many others do, by falsely accusing the innocent of witchcraft, he does not because he does not want to lie to himself and dishonor their names. He calmly speaks to Judge Danforth, “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names…I speak of my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it…You will not use me!” (Miller 141-43). Therefore, he sacrifices his life to preserve his reputation as an honest man. Unlike the accused, he strikes resistance and appeal to a moral fiber that the others could not achieve. His defense of his name, in the form of not signing the confession, enables him to die heroically and to be respected by those who see the injustice of the witchcraft
13 May 2013
Crucible Paper The witch trials of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts are evidently a part of the development of the United States of America. The crucible started from a collection of girls who showed strange behaviors that were mistaken as commands from the devil by the strict Puritan populace. False testimonies, jealousy and grudges used as ammunitions to fuel the hysteria. The trials successfully depicted how intolerance and hysteria can combine to tear even the strongest community like Salem apart. In The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller who was inspired by the Salem witch trials, John Proctor, a local farmer that lives just outside of Salem, is originally a good Puritan; however he has committed lechery …show more content…
Elizabeth tries to talk Proctor into perjury, and after wrestling with his conscience, he complies. However, he changes his decision when Judge Hawthorne and Judge Danforth ask him to sign the false confession as proof of his witchcraft, so the paper may be hanged on the church door for the mass to see. Under pressure, he signs the paper and immediately tears the sheet afterwards. He argues that it is already bashful enough that the higher society sees him as a vulnerable sinner, and the rest of the town does not need to see him as a shame either. His refusal to subordinate to the court’s rules separates him from the others that are accused. Although he could have saved his own life, like many others do, by falsely accusing the innocent of witchcraft, he does not because he does not want to lie to himself and dishonor their names. He calmly speaks to Judge Danforth, “They think to go like saints. I like not to spoil their names…I speak of my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have no tongue for it…You will not use me!” (Miller 141-43). Therefore, he sacrifices his life to preserve his reputation as an honest man. Unlike the accused, he strikes resistance and appeal to a moral fiber that the others could not achieve. His defense of his name, in the form of not signing the confession, enables him to die heroically and to be respected by those who see the injustice of the witchcraft