The HUAC, or the House of Un-American Activities and Committee, started their investigations to find the party of the left wing. In the beginning they investigated 41 people in Hollywood who could be potential left wing members, they narrowed down their search to 19 people. In those 19 people 10 of them refused to say anything and pleaded to the fifth amendment. When accused and were blacklisted, they often had to accuse other people that were affiliated with the left party to get out of being accused. Likewise, in Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible people of the Salem witch trials were no different from what happened in Hollywood. In the Salem witch trials, if one was accused of being a witch and chose not to talk, they would most likely be sentenced…
In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller a mass hysteria of witches goes around town due to an event that happened one night and led to a little girl to be asleep and was not able to be awaken. In todays world a certain mass hysteria is going on that all Muslims are dangerous and considered a terrrorist. One day on September 11, 2001 an airplane crashed into the twin towers. After a while another plane hit the second one causing both to collapse. This event lead to the deaths of thousands of people.…
In The Crucible, a drama by Arthur Miller set in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692, Reverend John Hale evolves from a self-confident witchcraft expert to a broken man who attempts to save lives. When Reverend Hale first arrives in Salem, he walks into the Parris’ home with an air of intelligence and great knowledge. As he situates himself in the house, he says to Mr. Parris, “… they [the books] are weighted with authority”, indicating that the books will decide whether a person is a witch or not (1.712-13). In Act I, Hale is the main person that begins the witch trials, because of the fact that he is a witchcraft expert and he gets Tituba to confess. His self-confidence, and lies from Tituba, Abigail, and Betty, leads him to think that there are…
In the Salem Witch Trials Abigail, Betty, Mary, and Mercy were the only evidence needed to get convicted in the adapted play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It became their word against yours and the girls had all the power because they were well trusted within the community. The same goes for this news story about José Antonio Zúñiga, or known more commonly as his nickname Toño, he was sentenced to jail for up to 20 years for a crime he did not commit due to no one doing a follow up on his story and just assuming that the police caught the right guy. In today’s society there are many flaws in the legal system, whether it is in Salem in the 1600s or in today’s time in Mexico; people will assume the worst of the situation and it may not be the…
In Exodus 22:18, it proclaims, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!” In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, the Puritans believed every word that the Bible said, causing the death of twenty people because they were accused of witchcraft. What caused the panic and alarm that lead to the death of twenty people in Salem? There were three causes: conflict between young girls and older women, lying teenagers, economic and political power divided between two sides of town.…
One thing the people in the crucible were afraid of was witches. If anyone was accused of being a witch, they had to tell on other people or they would be killed. To prove if someone was a witch they would hold them under water and if they survived they were a witch. They soon realized that they were killing tons of innocent people that were not witches. The people were also afraid that Abigail would accuse them of being a witch.…
One single person can determine the outcome of a life by trial in law; said person is the judge of the court system. A judge safeguards the law and holds the power of a god. Judges have left their mark throughout history by writing it themselves. The Salem Witch Trials are one of the nation's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. Upwards of 150 people were accused and sent to trial. A judge would hear these trials and then choose life or death for these men and women. Only an effective judge should be placed in such a position where one can play “god” with lives. In “The Crucible” By Arthur Miller, Judge Danforth is in charge of the court sentencing many people to hang in the town of Salem. While Danforth has qualities of a good judge, he…
Readers of The Crucible may notice a resemblance between Miller’s trial situation in real life and John Proctor’s trial situation in the play. Miller and Proctor were both urged to put others in trouble by releasing names of those who participated in forbidden acts, but they did not want to let anyone else undergo the same suffering that they were experiencing so they refused to say anything. There have been countless situations in history in which people were pressed to do things that would be harmful to others, and Miller was placed in one of those situations. All of the victims of those circumstances who refused to give in to the pressure are…
In The Crucible Danforth, the judge, blindly believes nearly every claim he hears and rather than make an objective conclusion with presented information, he strictly relies on subjective accusations. For example, he ignores the fact that the accused women were loyal church-goers and that nearly a hundred credible people declared the women’s innocence to instead listen to teenage girls name witch after witch with no evidence at all. Said best by Proctor, “Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers” (Miller…
The Salem witch trials scared many people during its time. During this time people accused each other of being witches. Many of the accused were killed because they would not admit to being a witch. The causes of the Salem witch trials were town division, lying girls, and jealousy.…
Nearly everyone can agree that the Puritans had some issues. They killed countless innocent people for ridiculous reasons, accused anybody different from them of being a witch, and were extremely strict about religion. Some Puritans even accused people they didn’t like of witchcraft just to get them executed. The Puritans that saw problems with this system were accused of being witches and hanged as well. These actions are shown very clearly in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. In this play, several teenage girls begin to accuse people they don’t like of witchcraft and pretend that they are being afflicted by them. The people of Salem all believe them and almost every person the “afflicted” girls accuse…
Many people have innocently went to prison or payed for crimes they have never committed over the course of history. The Salem Witch trials is the most known tragedy in which many lost their lives due to false accusations of participating in witchcraft in a puritan community. These trials would forever put in shame the name of Salem due to the injustice done to the innocent by people who wanted to take the guilt and shame off themselves…
As the story continues on/ the word “persecution” had lead to many false accusations and deaths by pride. Giles Corey a former farmer had found out what Thomas Putnam was doing to gain land. Giles went to Danforth to accuse Thomas but when given a name he had refused. This lead to him being pressed to death by yet refusing to give out the name. John Proctor had signed himself a confession to save his life but however had thought that it had been wrong and refused to give out this letter so he teared it. When that had happened he had forgiven himself of his sins but was still sent to the rope. John teared his own confession paper to have his forgiveness and save his friends. As John was nearly about the tear the paper he said “How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name.” (Miller-211) Even when he made the decision to tear the paper and sent to death, he knew…
A crucible is a severe test as of patience or belief, a trial. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a journey through the trials of many townspeople caused by suspicions of witchcraft. As the story progresses, people’s words and actions cause Reverend John Hale to change his views on whether the people prosecuted were guilty or innocent of witchcraft. As numerous events and their consequences unfold, they cause Hale to rethink his initial views on witchcraft and to be persuaded of the innocence of those convicted in Salem.…
The belief in witchcraft, or supernatural actions and the devil’s ability to give certain humans the power to harm others, in return for their loyalty, had been a part of traditional village culture in Europe since the 14th century. (history.com) The Salem witch trials took place between 1692 and 1693 in colonial Massachusetts. Two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty people were executed. (smithsonianmag.com)…