The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
The crucible directly means a severe, searching test or trial. The book The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a perfect example of that definition. The book is based upon the Salem Witch Trials of the 1690’s, it also has a deeper meaning it also relates to the communist hunts of the 1950’s led by Joseph McCarthy. The Crucible in all of its meanings follow the definition of it being a severe, searching test or trial. In the book The Crucible Arthur Miller portrayed the horrors of the Salem Witch Trails very eloquently. He made the horrors of the Trials feel very real and personal. He made it feel as if you were really there, experiencing every hanging and every confession. He made the play feel like real life. There were many cases where people
would be accused and tested for being a witch. Some specific examples of a crucible in The Crucible is when Judge Danforth was using the girl’s accusations as solid proof. Which was just their spoken word the girls used their own vengeance and agendas to rule their accusations instead of actual proof. People accepted them because the thought that those girls were saints and could do no wrong. When in fact their leader committed one of the seven deadly sins. Their leader was Abigail Williams and she committed Lust/Lechery with a married man. That married man was John Proctor. This one sin was the catalyst that started this whole affair. The Trials at Salem were not the last of its kind. Some 260 years later there was the Red Scare. The only difference between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials was that instead of hunting witches they were hunting Communists. This new “witch hunt” was led by Joseph McCarthy a U.S senator. He was said to have accused about 205. The only differences between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch hunts were that the Red Scare was country-wide whereas the Witch hunts were only in Salem. Over all I feel that the book The Crucible follows the definition of its name in both the story and what it is referring to outside of the book. The Crucible followed the Witch hunts very closely and gave them a very real feeling and brought light to our horrific past as a species. Over all I feel that the story stayed very true to its original, historical past.
would be accused and tested for being a witch. Some specific examples of a crucible in The Crucible is when Judge Danforth was using the girl’s accusations as solid proof. Which was just their spoken word the girls used their own vengeance and agendas to rule their accusations instead of actual proof. People accepted them because the thought that those girls were saints and could do no wrong. When in fact their leader committed one of the seven deadly sins. Their leader was Abigail Williams and she committed Lust/Lechery with a married man. That married man was John Proctor. This one sin was the catalyst that started this whole affair. The Trials at Salem were not the last of its kind. Some 260 years later there was the Red Scare. The only difference between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials was that instead of hunting witches they were hunting Communists. This new “witch hunt” was led by Joseph McCarthy a U.S senator. He was said to have accused about 205. The only differences between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch hunts were that the Red Scare was country-wide whereas the Witch hunts were only in Salem. Over all I feel that the book The Crucible follows the definition of its name in both the story and what it is referring to outside of the book. The Crucible followed the Witch hunts very closely and gave them a very real feeling and brought light to our horrific past as a species. Over all I feel that the story stayed very true to its original, historical past.