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The Crucible Reflections

At first The Crucible seemed a little dry and complicated because it was during the Puritan time period and opened with girls dancing around the fire as if they were possessed. As we got further and further through the movie I started appreciating the complexity of the storyline.

Thats another reason why I loved it so much. It was because it wasnt predictable and that describes a good movie in my opinion. John Proctor is definetly my favorite character because of his aloofness from the community and being an individual. Showing that there wasnt a need to be extremely religous to maintain the characteristics of a good man besides the fact that he slept with Abby.

Actually John Proctor was so developed that he didnt seem like a character from the book. Arthur Miller brought the character to life. Everything he said and did was believable. That was also because Daniel Day- Lewis played him and most of his interpretations of characters are spot on. Overall, The Crucible made me realize how ridiculous black listing someone because they were a communist was.

 

Abigail Williams

In the movie The Crucible, Abigail Williams is a teenage girl who desperatly desire to be with John Proctor. Though from the outside she is a young and confused girl, within she posses hatred and desire for power. 

Like a circus, Abigail is the ringleader of the young girls in the community. Her dominace over these girls is very present. Whenever she cracks he whip the girls follow in pursuit even when they know it is not the truth. Throughout the entire movie Abigail spreads lies that there are witches in the commity. She goes on to blame and lie about peoples encounters with spirits, as if she seeks to be cleansed be God. The other girls go along with Abigails dishonest bahavior to save themselves from conviction. For example, in the picture abo when an elderly man was accused of dealing with witchcraft Abigial started screaming there were spirits coming to her and went around the town running as if spirits were chasing her. The others followed screaming in "terror". 

Abigails desire for power was all to gain the love of John Proctor. But in the way of Abigail getting her way she spares the lives of innocent people. 

Salem Witches Vs. Salem

In the crucuible you see a lot of indiviadual vs. community. The first time you see this is when the girls are accusing everyone of witchcraft and  it is all of the girls against one person.

The one person has no chance to win because they are being accused of something they didn't do by a large group that is against them. I kinda see this as the "real" witches against the accused witches because the girls doing the accusing are doing more witchcraft by accusing people then the accused woman are.

Another time you see this is when Abigail, who was accusing people, is now being shunned by the community because they think she is the devil's child because she is the main person who can see the devil. While this is happening she is being accused of being a witch herself because the people who aren't following her are not taking any of her dumb lies anymore.

Criticism... will it ever end?

All of the books weve read this semester have been criticisms of America at some point in history: The Scarlet Letter brought light upon fallacies in Puritan society, The Crucible showed us the flaws in Puritan society and during the Red Scare,  Frederick Douglass exposed us to the reality of slavery and racism before the Civil War, Huckleberry Finn poked fun at the ignorance of uneducated racists, The Catcher in the Rye emphasized the "cheesy-ness" of the 1900s, and MacNolia slapped us in the face with a real look at racism in America through the eyes of a black girl growing older. That's quite a list there, and I'd say weve been taken through a pretty good chunk of American cultural history just through reading all of these novels.

Reading all of this cultural criticism and satire got me thinking about the flaws of today's society. I know we're not perfect - America is full of capitalists, elitists, and racists, just to name a few. We might not be as religiously oppressive as the Puritans, but there are still religious battles fought today, sometimes violent ones. We abolished slavery and experienced the Civil Rights movement, but that doesn't mean that race isn't an issue, and it certainly doesn't mean that other types of oppression don't exist today. While we've been reading about imperfections in American culture of the past, we should also stop to realize all of the imperfections in today's world.

This is why I truly hope that future writers will write about us, that in a hundred years English classes will be reading about the flaws in our culture, just as we are doing right now. Our world is not perfect, and it most likely never will be. Criticism in the form of literature should last as long as this world does to open humanity's eyes to the mistakes of their ancestors and make future generations analyze the flaws in their own lives.

It Will Only Make Me Stronger

Throughout all the novels we have read this year, most of the main characters have similarities involving problems in their life that isolate themselves from society. However, in many of the novels, the characters are able to deal with their problems, not necessarily solve it, and eventually become an even stronger character because of their experiences.

John Proctor, from The Crucible, is one example of expanding as a character. In the beginning of the play, he is the guy that secretly cheats on his wife but is also loved by everyone in town. He has everything going for him, until later in the story, when the children accuse him of witchcraft. Instead of admitting to the deed and staying alive (also considered the coward-way out of his trouble), he decides to die with dignity and stay to the truth. The fact that he would die for the truth counters his previous actions in the story when he was cheating and lying to his wife. Therefore, he grew positively as a person when he chose to die with honor.

In addition, in The Scarlet Letter’s main character, Hester, developed into a character that the audiences sympathizes with by the end of the novel. Despite the fact that Hester had an affair with Dimmesdale and was punished by being forced to wear an “A” on her clothing, she improved as a character by helping the needy. Even the townspeople began to discuss if she should be allowed to remove the “A.” Furthermore, it is implied at the end of the novel that she left in order to give Pearl a better life. Throughout Hester’s life, she built up an improved image of herself and ended her life with others’ perceptions of her at their very highest.

During the semester, the lessons and themes of the book taught me that the easy way out may not be the right way. In order to make a difference, such as Douglass (went against slavery) and Proctor (chose death), the unappealing option is the path to take in life.

Is it really the end?

By the end of The Crucible, I was convinced that Arthur Miller embedded a message in his play. To me, that message was that people do rash things during a confusing time, and it is those who stick by their wits who really are the heroes. By this, I mean to say that those who do not run away from their fears, but rather, face them, end up becoming the protagonist, or what one may call, the hero. Abigail Williams, Tituba, Mercy Lewis, Betty Parris, and all of the people of the court ran away from their fear of not knowing what was happening to the girls of Salem, and blamed it on a problem no one could control. By blaming their odd behavior on witchcraft, the people of Salem ran away from their problems rather than facing them. The girls who accused several other women of being witches were scared of the conviction of lying, and therefore, threw the spotlight on women in the Salem witchtrials. Men like John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Corey Giles all stood by what they believed in and hoped to send a message; they were not witches, and were not going to lie and say they were to make the fear in Salem dissipate.

People who protest the norm, or what most others are doing, usually do so because they are fighting for a cause. Martin Luther King and his followers during the Civil Rights Era fought for equal rights between those of colored race and white race. Several of people against King and his followers violently resisted their protests, and treated them with disrespect.  Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, or Mahatma Gandhi, fought for a separation from England's harsh and restricting rule peacefully. The British threw several of Hindus and Muslims in jail for wanting a separation from Britain. Those who are questioned often fight back violently because they are scared of losing power.  This is similart to what happenned in The Crucible because those questioning the court were tortured while in jail, jailed, or hanged.

Abigail- Very Unlike Abigail Adams

Abigail Williams, otherwise known as the the woman who started the scare in Salem, fled town. Throughout the play, she constantly accused innocent women of practicing witchcraft, and made the lives of several families a living hell. Finally, after months of torturing the citizens of Salem, she fled with her accomplice, Mercy Lewis. Now, their departure poses a question that I'm sure several of you have. Why did she leave? According to Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth, Abigail left because she was ready to start a new life in a new city and get a fresh start. However, in my opinion, she left because she felt insecure, and was worried that eventually, the truth would come out about her lying. Abigail was a coward, and was able to talk the talk, but unable to walk the walk.

I feel that this pertains to situations today becausemany people in our world are unable to face what they have begun, and walk away from their situation. What Abigail did tells us about mankind and the flaws we have as humans.

The End

In the final seconds of The Crucible, John Proctor decides he would rather hang than lie about his affiliations with the devil.  It was a desperate man's decision and he chose the more noble course of action.  Although I think that the play ended really well, I still have a million questions.  Did Proctor's death have any positive consequences on Salem? How did the girls react to Abby leaving? Did anyone besides Hale feel any remorse for what they'd done?  I guess Miller left us with a chance to fill in our own blanks, but this is one of those stories where I just wish I could know the answers.  What do you guys think happened?

How do we find the happy medium?

Throughout the play, Crucible, we see internal conflicts in most of the characters. In Act 1 Reverend Parris has an internal conflict of wanting to protect his name rather than his daughter. During Act 4 Danforth  is worried how to handle the witch trials. He knew some people were guilty off the bat, but if he let them off without a trial the town would go crazy. John Proctor is able to show us in Act 4, during the trial, that he wants justice. He puts up a fight to plead guilty, but does so to please Elizabeth. John will not lie, nor rat out his friends whom he supposedly saw speaking with the devil. He ends up tearing up the contract that Danforth wants him to sign admitting he is a witch. Proctor went to the extreme rout of how to find justice, while characters like Danforth and Parris did not do enough.

This brings up the problem of how do we as humans find a happy medium. My answer is simply that there is not a happy medium. There will always be someone unhappy with the results of a trial or rule. Just like our school. Our school puts into place tardy policies to prevent kids from constantly being late to class. Students will complain and be unhappy if the tardy policies are super strict, but teachers and parents will complain if they are losely enforced. We as humans are not perfect therefore we cannot create a happy medium.

Mean Girls Meets Crucible

I am currently assistant directing The Crucible with Mrs. Bayer for the second quarter little theatre show. We held auditions this week. Like any regular audition we had the auditionees read what us theatre people call sides. Side is just a fancy word for a selection of a scene from a play. We also gave the auditionees the low down on each of the characters that they were reading for. The most common scene we had the auditionees read was the scene where Betty tries to fly. We gave a description of each of the girls. We described the scene as if it was from Mean Girls. We made the connection of Abigail with Regina George. For those that have not seen the beautious Mean Girls should and need to know that Regina George is the leader of the Plastics. In the film Regina gets stuck in situation and brings the other Plastics into her problems. Unlike the Crucible the other Plastics revolt and leave Regina to fend for herself. In the Crucible Abigail has loyal "followers."

*Note that in movie; Regina George is the one eating a loaf of bread and in a pink athletic suit. (Eating has no significance to my points above)

                    

WANTED: Abigail Williams and Mercy Lewis

    In act Four of the Crucible, Abigail Williams, flees the scene with Mercy Lewis. At the time I was reading, I remember wondering why she chose to flee, and why take Mercy Lewis with her? It mentions Betty briefly, so we know she did not go too. And if she left Betty, and only Mercy's name was mentioned with her, I feel like I can safely assume that none of the other witch-hunting girls ran with them. 

    Mercy always seemed to me like Abigail's right hand woman. They are nearly the same age, and while Abigail is sly and calculative, Mercy seemed like the brawns of the operation, offering cheerily to give Betty a thump if she doesn't wake (Act 1, page 18). No matter what was going on, whatever Abby was planning, Mercy was first in line to back her up. I think that they got so many of the other girls to playact for so long because of the combined intimidation of the two of them, Abigail with her intelligence and threats, and Mercy with her willingness to enforce Abigail's rule, with violence in deemed neccessary. They really seem the scariest of all the witch-hunting girls.

So, mayhaps Abigail brought Mercy along because she felt a kindred spirit in her. Or mayhaps Abigail's plans have grown ever larger, and she needs her right hand to help her.

What do you think?

Witch Trials- The Crucible and the History

    I wonder if it's just Puritans, or if witchcraft really sends everyone from small early American villages into a mad frenzy, but I distinctly remember reading as a child ( I had a strange personal library as a kid) transcripts from English and early American towns about how people reacted when witchery seemed to be afoot. In a lot of the towns or villages, most very similar to the structure of Salem, the townspeople rarely accused their neighbors/ fellow villagers of being the witch. Instead, a cow (usually female, which brings up questions about gender significance) or a pig would be put on trial, found guilty of sorcery or witchcraft, and "hung by th' necke until deade". Dogs were a common alternative, though cats, contrary to popular belief, were not. Whenever a cat was accused, it was usually accused of being the familiar of a human witch or warlock, the accomplice or even devil-tainted steed, and not the witch itself.

That there was such willingness among the villagers to accuse each other in The Crucible is startling. Where historical documents suggest that the villagers of other witch-frenzied towns were so reluctant to accuse each other, calling on common beasts of burden instead, the girls of Salem openly and willingly call out people they've known all their lives. I feel like this is a big indicator that Salem was not nearly as much the happy community that it seems to be playacting. There are clearly some underlying issues that made it easier for the girls to become the harbingers of doom with virtually no opposition.

To Judge, or Not to Judge?

That is the question. At least it is for "Judge" Danforth in Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

Why the quotations around Danforth's title? I think Danforth best explains it himself when he says, "I judge nothing" (91). And the truth is, he doesn't. While Danforth is supposed to hear evidence during the trials and make an unbiased decision on the innocence of the defendant, there's nothing unbiased about what he does. He accepts only the victim's evidence, since witchcraft is an "invisible crime." He uses illogical counter-arguments to disprove the defendant's innocent pleas. Danforth is not judging or deciding anything. He's just letting the whole situation play right into Abigail Williams's hands.

 And wait. If a person accused of witchcraft accuses someone else of witchcraft, she is saved? According to Salem's courts, the only way to avoid punishment by law is to lie and point fingers at others. A court is supposed to enforce the law and keep order in society, but the court in Salem has paved the way for chaos. Now everyone who wants to stay alive becomes part of a chain reaction in which anyone can be the next victim. And anyone who disagrees with the court is automatically a criminal. Apparently having an opinion is the equivalent of trying to overthrow the court, because as Danforth says, "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road in between" (94).

So can we call Danforth a judge, and his domain a court? Not at all.

What is a "Crucible?"

What is the significance of the title "The Crucible?" Well an actual crucible is a piece of laboratory equipment used to heat chemical compounds to very high temperatures or to melt metal. Based off this literal definition of a crucible, two non-literal meanings of the word seem like they could also apply to the story, based on what we already know:

1) a severe test, or

2) a situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development.

On the surface, it's easy to realize that this is a pretty adept title for such a complex story. A crucible is a little container full of violent reactions. It sure seems like a pretty good metaphor for the violent hysteria the little village of Salem contained during the witch trials. But I find it more thought provoking than that....

What are the "concentrated forces" interacting in Salem in 1692? God? The Devil? Human desire? Deception? And remember that Miller wrote this play as an allegory for the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s. So what forces were at play in that situation? Patriotism? Communism? Censure? Free speech? And what changes or developments resulted from these situations?

This is just a tidbit, but an important tidbit we should address as we continue reading.

Mad--deranged; mentally disturbed; angered; see McCarthy

Politicians over the ages have used numerous techniques to promote their faction's or individual interest. One of the most famous instances known to most Americans is that of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. During the 1950's, contempt for communism the growing power in the east reached a high point in America, embodied in the "Red Scare". McCarthy rode this wave of fear across the nation to ultimately draw attention to America's own government, evident in his "Enemies Within" speech. As any politician would feel inclined to do, McCarthy used what pleased a large amount of the vote to dictate his political decisions. As the nation constantly worried about warfare abroad, the threat of a mal-intended entity at home fulfilled the suspicions of treachery where it was least expected. In his speech, Senator McCarthy uses fear, doctrinal difference, and differing moralities to achieve his point that communism deeply conflicts with democracy, and that the nation is plagued by "enemies within". By using multiple angles of fear, such as staggering realities, McCarthy proves effective in attacking the U.S. State Department and raising concerns of treachery by those that have been in power at home.   

The Crucible: Allegory for Red Scare

Arthur Miller uses The Crucible as a symbol for the Red Scare. In The Crucible, teenage girls accusedmany people in the town of Salem of being witches. Similarly, during the Red Scare hundreds of people were accused of being communist.

Almost everyone instantly believed these strong accusations because people were so frightened of witches and communists that they did not stop to consider the accusations they were making. The reason they were making these accusations was partly because of fear and additionally because by making these accusations they were put in a position of power and control. Abigail and other people accused of being witches and communist sometimes falsely agreed that they were just to escape being hung or put in prison and rejected by society.

The Crucible is a symbol of the Red Scare. They both include people falsely accusing others and doing so out of fear or the need for power, and the accused admitting to something that was not true just to avoid conflict.

Who Has the Strength to Defy Shame?

As I read "The Scarlet Letter", I have seen some comparisons to both "The Things They Carried" and "The Crucible". In all of these books, characters must make life changing decisions. In both "The Crucible" and "The Things They Carried," O'Brien and Proctor must choose between shame and death. Similarly, in "The Scarlet Letter," Hester must choose between living in shame for the rest of her life and death. These books are extremely different but all three prove that all humans have decisions that will change their futures.

In "The Things They Carried", O'Brien had to choose between fleeing to Canada and going to fight in the army. If he chose to go to Canada, he would have to face the shame and embarrassment of not being brave. Family and friends would respect him less for his cowardice. If O'Brien chose to escape embarrassment, he would be risking his life. In "The Crucible," Proctor was accused of performing witchcraft and was going to be hanged. He had to decide between being hanged and the great shame of lying. If Proctor decided to lie to save his life, he would have the shame of a lie hanging over his head for the rest of his life. The shame would ruin his own life and his children's lives. If he chose to be hanged, he would still be ruining his and his family's lives.

"Therefore, first allowing her to pass, they pursued her at a distance with shrill cries, and the utterance of a word that had no distinct purport to their own minds, but was none the less terrible to her, as proceeding from lips that babbled it unconsciously. It seemed to argue so wide a diffusion of her shame, that all nature knew of it."(59)

In "The Scarlet Letter," shame defines Hester's life. She lives in the solitary cottage, she continues to wear the scarlet letter, and she lets people say rude things to her, all because of her shame. She doesn't try to interact with society because she knows that no one would want to interact with someone so sinful. Hester begins to sew and help the poor to atone her sin.

Since she is so strong, Hester chooses life with shame over death. Her life seems miserable but she continues on with her head held high. Others, like Proctor, were not strong enough to defy their shame but Hester manages to get by.

Panic of the Puritans

One of the most frustrating things about reading The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is the high degree of credulousness many of the townspeople have. Abigail manipulates the people around her and uses the court's fear to try to get the result she desires. Abigail sees to be the ringleader of the young girls, everything she does, the girls do as well. It is evident that Abigail is manipulating the gullible court by giving them the evidence they want to hear.

Abigail, looking about in the air, clasping her arms about her as though cold: I-I know not. A wind, a cold wind, has come. Her eyes fall on Mary Warren.

Mary Warren: Abby!

Mercy Lewis, shivering: Your Honor, I freeze! (108)

I understand Proctor's frustration in Act Three, because I feel the same way. It is so blatantly obvious that the girls are following the leader. I can imagine Abigail telling her girls to repeat everything she does, which to me seems too childish to be believed, but it is believed because of the mass sentiment of fear. This fear is both individual and communal. It is individually because everyone is scared that they are either going to be persecuted or scared of being touched by Satan. In my opinion, one reason for why these witch trials happened in Salem was because it was a Puritan community. Puritans came to America for their 'city on a hill', the perfect community. Seeing a flaw in this perfect society caused hysteria.

Mary Warren felt pressure to be like the other girls and follow Abigail by blaming Proctor once she realized Danforth was believing everything Abigail and the the girls were doing. It makes sense for young girls to follow the crowd. It is seen everyday at all ages of girls, just not to the extent of lying in court. People are scared of being out casted and alone, and in the girls of Salem's case, dead.

I think the reason people, including myself, became frustrated with the situation of the Salem With Trials,with the large number of people following the liars, is because some of us still hope that deep down, everyone has some good and that it is human nature to be good. I do not think that is true though, I agree with Thomas Hobbes' belief that self-preservation is the motivating factor behind human nature. Abigail's actions were in vengeance, but it seems to me that everyone else that pretended to be affected by a witch was self-preservation.

 

 

The Importance of "Stage Write"

So far, The Crucible has been enjoyable, and intensive thoughts have surfaced while reading it.  Arthur Miller has an irrefutable ability to symbolize, parallel and represent allegory within the text.

The writing that Miller presents to the reader is of great depth.  Even though some of the literal and contextual fact is simple, the layers of his writing hold great literary substance.  In Act II, in the first line, a conversation between an unfaithful Puritan, John Proctor, and his wife Elizabeth begins.  The conversation is pertaining to what seems to start as dinner, and slowly progresses into the past relationship between John and Abigail.  On page 51, Arthur Miller’s stage direction gives a glimpse into the depth of a simple conversation between a husband and his wife.

“There is a pause.  She is watching him from the table as he stands there absorbing the night.  It is as though she would speak but cannot.  Instead, now, she takes up his plate and glass and fork and goes with them to the basin.  Her back is turned to him.  He turns to her and watches her.  A sense of their separation rises.”

This direction can be studied for symbolism and allegory.  Symbolism is exemplified in “watching him from the table as he stands there absorbing the night.”

Miller’s use of the word “watching” from Elizabeth’s standpoint, and John Proctor’s “absorbing” shouldn’t go unnoticed.  This word choice symbolizes a very key dynamic in the relationship between them.  The “watching” done by Elizabeth symbolizes her feelings of confusion about John, along with the distance between them that has become to rot the foundation of their relationship.  It represents distance based on the way that when one is ‘watching” that they are observing anther person in a different way, as if they are seeing them in a new light.  Elizabeth is observing with John Proctor.  Miller symbolizes John Proctor’s self-righteousness and mystery to Elizabeth by using the direction “as he stands there absorbing the night.”  The “absorbing” could be viewed as a clear connection to being “self-absorbed”, but it could also mean that John is reflecting in the silence that he has created, and must “absorb” the reminder of his wrong-doings.  The insertion of  “night” could mean that Abigail has become unfamiliar to him and doesn’t know who John is, the same way that we use the word ‘night” to give a connotation that something is unknown or unseen.  It can also symbolize blindness or the “darkness” of their relationship.  This direction reflects the blurry and unclear relationship between the Proctors.

I think it is very important to make note of this writing presented by Miller.  It reminds us of the importance of even the stage direction while reading a play.  Millers ability to  add layers and interesting symbolism in this work has made my reading of The Crucible very enjoyable.

Authority, or None At All?

Arthur Miller's play The Crucible was written to show the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. It not only represented this era but also the McCarthy era that Miller first-hand experienced. Both of these issues were emphasized throughout Miller's play but by the end of the Arthur Miller's play, I realized that the play made a generalization about human nature in the bounds of authorities and higher powers.

The play showed a group of girls that falsely accused many villagers in Salem. The town of Salem was no longer seen as a town of quite Puritans, but as a town filled with witches, devils, and confusion. During the trials Cheever says, "There be so many cows wanderin' the highroads" which emphasizes how Salem is compete chaos(125). The chaotic town was no longer peaceful, and all this commotion did not settle down. Why did this happen? If the town had solved its issues of bewitchment, by capturing the "guilty", why was the town slowly falling apart? This is an interesting question that I found myself asking after Elizabeth tells the story of Giles dying,  

"Great stones that lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words, ‘More weight,' he says" (135).

Giles was killed for not speaking when asked to in court. Despite being innocent, he was killed unjustly. The people to blame are the authorities who did this to Giles. Giles stood next to what he believed while still maintaining respect for the town’s needs. Just because he would not answer the questions that the judge asked him, he was killed. The authority in Salem was unfair and mistreated innocent people. This is one of the reasons I believe that the town was falling apart.

The unfair authority is why John Proctor decided not to confess and be hung. Even after the man pleaded that he did indeed see the devil (even though in reality he did not) Danforth pried and pried him with saying that he needed to post his confession on the church doors. Proctor’s soul finally cracked and he said, “I have given you my soul; leave me my name”(143). If he plead guilty then he would be bowing down to authority and telling them that they were right, and he was wrong. This was an issue of John losing his dignity to men who had power but really did not deserve it and were not being just. This is exactly why at the end of the play, John refuses to sign the papers and is hung.

The issue of authority is still an issue today. It is either too much freedom or too little freedom. How can a society succeed with authoritative power? Is it possible, or will authority always conflict with an individual's freedom?

Fun and Games

One striking passage that really hit me comes from the Puritans Packet.  In "Whip, Pillory, and Gallows: Punishment in Puritan Massachusetts," it says, “Hangings in Massachusetts Bay became public events where large crowds of people would gather.” Now I believe that the real f word going around was not fear, but fun. 

We can all agree that Salem, Massachusetts, 1692, didn’t seem like the most fun place to live during that time.  First of all there were no other towns for miles.  Second of all, the book shows that there isn’t much to do in Salem besides work and pray or some type of religious work.  I think the accusations of being a witch were made not out of fear but out of enjoyment.  People wanted others accused and convicted for the sole purpose of watching them hanged.  Over a hundred people were accused and nineteen were sentenced to death.  This could illustrate that people were bored and wanted a distraction from their mundane lives. 

The film, Monty Python and the Wholly Grail relates to this. There is a scene in the film where a huge crowd of people try to convince a knight, the leader of the town, that a woman with a fake nose is a witch.  The crowd is trying to make her out to look like a witch so they can burn here.  The group made up lies and they didn’t fear her.  The people just wanted to see her die and they got agitated when the knight decided to punish her with death on the charge of being a “witch.”  Though this film is a comedy, my point is that public’s entertainment comes from other people’s agony.  

I believe that the witch stories of Salem were allegories.  The literal meaning of the story was that being called a witch was the same thing as saying, “I want to see you die.”  While the symbolic part of the story is that communities need to come together during rough times.  I think that the witch accusations were made to elicit excitement and entertainment and were not made out of fear.  

Wrongly Accused

In March of 2007, a Long Island elementary school teacher sued the Hampton Bays school district after she was fired because her administrators believed that she was a witch teaching witchcraft to her students. Her lawyer called the case a "21st century re-enactment of the Salem Witchcraft Trials." A school spokesperson said that Berrios' claim lacks merit, but in 2003 the school's principal at the time testified he believed that Berrios practiced witchcraft. "Every school that I go to interview in I have to disclose to them that I was denied tenure for enticing children into witchcraft and magic," Berrios says.

That article of news relates to The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a book and play that were based on the actual events that 1692 that led to the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The play was written as a response to McCarthyism when the US government accused communists. In this book, Abigail and the girls are dancing in the woods. They conjure up spirits while dancing naked and they are discovered by Reverend Parris which lead to accusations of the girls being witches. To escape the punishment, they accuse other women of the town of as being witches. This leads to trials of these women with the girls as the jury.

These are both similar situations because in each, people are being accused of using witchcraft and being witches. There is no legitimate evidence of these people being witches. Witnesses exaggerate about their stories and change little details to make people see and believe things their way. In Berrios's case, she was accused from the way she looked and dressed and the things she said that had relation to religion. She was accused unfairly and was ganged up upon. In The Crucible, no one would take the time to truely hear out Abigail and the girls's reasoning and their side of the story.

Burn the Witch!!!

In Arthur Miller's novel, The Crucible, people were wrongly accused of being witches and a good majority of them were put to death. The setting of this novel takes place in Salem Mass., in 1692, yet these types of things occur today all around the world, which leads me to ask, have we really learned anything? The answer is no; one example of people being accused on false pretenses include the McCarthy era. McCarthy was a state senator in the 1950's during a time of social unrest. People were afraid of the Communists taking over(The Red Scare) and during this time, McCarthy used the Communists as an excuse to get rid of people he didn't like and to gain power by blacklisting them. Although the blacklist isn't really an official type of list, people got the idea not to hire them if their name appeared on the list because they were "Communists." People's lives were ruined because of this, just like people's lives were ruined and/or destroyed in Salem, hundreds of years before.

So how come we haven't learned anything, after all school teaches us to hear different points of view and decide for ourselves. You can't win a case in court without evidence. How can you charged people with murder and even sentenced them to death without evidence? I know that during the Salem witch trials, they used God as a way to prove their innocence; not evidence but God. Unfortunately things like this in the world will always exist no matter how much we develop, which is why we must ask questions and maybe even be skeptical on certain issues. As a note from a fortune cookie once told me, "Skepticism is the first step towards truth." Maybe the people in Salem just needed a fortune cookie to realize that.

Power to the Powerless

In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the play takes place during the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. Many people were accused of witchcraft without valid evidence. Lives were ruined, people were hanged and families were torn apart because of these accusations. Many people felt powerless because they had no way to prove themselves innocent of the charges of witchcraft. However, some people were empowered by the Salem Witch Trials. Individuals who were usually shunned from the community, found their voices being heard in the courtroom during the trials.

One of the main characters, Abigail Williams, was with the group of dancing girls in the woods who were caught by Reverend Parris. Abigail was an outcast in Salem because she was an orphan, unmarried and had a known affair with John Proctor. When John Proctor ends the scandalous affair, her jealously of John Proctor's wife, Elizabeth, becomes her motivation for action. Abigail was in love with John. He showed her a different side of the so-called perfect community of Salem. When he stopped the affair, she was devastated.

Abgail manupilated the dancing girls to lie about what actually happened in the woods. She also falsely accused Mary Warren to be a witch by using false evidence to prove her point. During the trial, Abigail claimed that she was working with God to point out the witches and devil worshippers in Salem, The citizens of Salem greatest fear was the defiance of God and Abgail's accusations gained the attention of the court. Using her claim that God was with her, no one doubted her accusations.

Abigail Williams rise to power through maniuplation, made me think about the things that people do and say to achieve power and popularity. Chances are we all have met or encountered a person like Abgail who manipulates the truth to gain power and respect. Many people are desperate for power, however, the real question is: What are you willing to do or say to empower yourself? 

Who Are We To Say

While reading stories such as The Crucible, that focus on the Salem witch trials, modern day readers tend to looks at civilians during that time as crazy. We think "who would ever accuse their neighbor of being a witch, so they would be hanged?". Thinking of something like this happening today seems unreal to us. But we can't be so sure that it has not.

For example, during  9/11, a lot of Americans stereotyped Middle-Eastern people as terrorists, just because of one group's actions.  In WWII, Japanese Americans were put into concetration camps, just because of their race. Americans feared that they were harmful to the country, when they were just living their daily lives in America. This is extremely similar to what happened in Salem, MA. Innocent people were wrongly accused, and in turn their freedom and justice was sacrificed. In Salem, almost anyone, on any given day could be accused of doing witch craft.

If something like 9/11 happened now, concerning one specific group of people, the same type of situation could come about again on any race or religion of people.

These incidents did not happen too long ago.  Who are we to say that something similar to the Salem witch trials will not happen again?

The True Sin

In the play The Crucible the whole town is basically put against each other to find out who is the true “witch”. Through out the play everyone seems to be blaming different incidents on others to get attention of themselves. Even though these accusations were all false, everyone would believe everything that was said out of fear. Everyone was afraid of the witch and without any answers there was no hope for the town to be at peace once again.   It came to the point where the court would not even believe the truth when it was told.

John Proctor ruined his own name by admitting his affair with Abigail. He said the reason why Abigail was asked to leave is because he had an affair with her. Even though he told the truth he was sentenced to death unless he admitted to a crime he didn’t commit and he decided to commit his sins and be saved.

John decides in the end he will confess but he will not sign the sheet that is required of him to prove to the town he had confessed. He did not believe this was fair. In a real confession no proof is needed. It is only necessary for God and the Priest to witness the confession. Also they are forcing the people to lie to save themselves. Isn’t lying a sin in itself?

Fear of the Unknown

In my opinion, the most striking thing from The Crucible in general is how afraid the characters are of the unknown. I believe that fear of the unknown is human nature. Everyone's top priority in Salem, Massachusetts was either to find witches and persecute them, or to defend loved ones who had been convicted as a witch. Their lives revolved around accusations.

From the fact that there was no concrete evidence in witchcraft trials, I'm guessing that the people of Salem needed to be extremely careful with their words. If someone took something the wrong way they could be hanged. The people who claimed they had experienced or witnessed witchcraft spread rumors which circulated around Salem. No one really knew what witchcraft was like so they over exaggerated and spread more false rumors about people. This was all because their fear of the unknown.

I believe that the best example of fear of the unknown is death. No one knows what will happen. The equivalent of the rumors in Salem would be religion. Different religions believe different things about death but nothing has been proven.

I think that, because of fear of the unknown, Salem judges used harsh actions, like hanging, not solely for cruelty or punishment but mostly because of the fear of what witchcraft could be or could lead to. Most of Act III is about the arguments for and against the accusations of neighbors. The rumors about witchcraft intensified the fear because they were so exaggerated. Nothing involving witchcraft could be proven so drastic measures were taken.

God is Dead

God is dead! (119)

A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face, and yours, Danforth! For them that quail to bring men out of ignorance, as I have quailed, and as you quail now when you know in all your black hearts that this be fraud—God damns our kind especially, and we will burn, we will burn together! (120)

You are pulling Heaven down and raising a whore! (120)

In these three quotes, John Proctor explodes in a furious rage and makes numerous passionate accusations of the court. The provocative nature of his words jumped out while I was reading Act III. 

When Proctor says “God is dead,” he means that if God is supposedly represented by the court, which is truly evil in his eyes, then he must obviously be dead because of the morally questionable (and arguably devilish) proceedings of the court. He goes even further, suggesting that the court is an embodiment of Satan when he states “A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face!” It is possible that the sound of “the boot of Lucifer” is the sound of the gable, sentencing innocent women to death by hanging. 

Proctor sees the Devil’s “filthy face” in his face, Danforth’s face, and the faces of all others who allowed the court proceedings to continue even though they knew the proceedings were ungodly and wrong. Proctor therefore goes beyond blaming the court for its proceedings, and starts to blame the ordinary people who allow the proceedings to occur, claiming that they all “will burn together” in the eternal flames of Hell for “quail[ing] to bring men out of ignorance.”

Additionally, Proctor accuses the court of “pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore.” Essentially, he believes that the court is compromising their morality and rejecting God by believing a whore, Abigail, and allowing her outlandish claims to serve as death warrants for others.

In these quotes, Proctor challenges what is godly and what is devilish in Salem. He accuses the court of being an embodiment of the Devil, rather than of God. Because the Devil’s work is being done in what is supposed to be God’s domain, Proctor comes to the conclusion that God is dead. At least in the courts, God has been killed and Satan has taken over, trapping all of the citizens of Salem in a whirlwind of accusations, deceit, and fear.

The McCarthy Influence

Reading The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, I find myself getting so caught up into the story that I am frustrated at what is happening. The most frustrating part, was during the court trial when Mary Warren decides she is ready to confess to the judge that she lied about seeing spirits. Part of the scene goes like this:

[Abigail and the other girls are pretending to be possessed by Mary's spirit]

Abigail: Oh, please, Mary! Don't come down.

Susanna Wilcott: Her claws, she's stretching her claws!

Proctor [he brought in Mary Warren to confess]: Lies, lies.

Abigail: Mary, please don't hurt me!

Mary Warren: I'm not hurting her!

Danforth [judge]: Why does she [Abigail] see this vision?

Mary Warren: She see's nothin'!

Girls: She see's nothin'!

Marry Warren: Abby, you mustn't!

Girls: Abby, you mustn't!

The girls keep repeating whatever Mary Warren says and the judge, Mr. Danforth comes to believe that the girls are all being possessed by Mary's invisible spirit. From previous scenes in the play, the audience knows that Abigail and the girls were never possessed and that Abby had threatened Mary, should Mary ever decide to give details of what the girls were really doing. So I found myself getting very frustrated with Abigail. I hate her now, for putting on this false act that is getting Mary into trouble, and at the girls who are all going along with Abby, pretending to be under the influence of Mary's spirit. I am also frustrated by the fact that Mr. Danforth, along with all of the other townspeople, are deceived by the girls' act. I find it hard to believe that these people are willing to charge someone with these accusations of making pacts with the devil and evidence from children. However, I also understand that the Puritans really believed that people could make deals with the Devil, which just adds to my frustration already.

As I learned, Arthur Miller was part of the blacklist during the Red Scare. And he, as well as many others' lives were changed because of this list. And sure enough these people had grievances against McCarthy who was the one accusing all of these people of being involved with communists. And we also can conclude that Miller's allegory he was regerring to in The Crucible was most likely this scare that was happening during this period.

What I thought Miller got across very well was the frustration and helplessness he felt of being a victim. By reading this play, those of us who do not have direct experience can get a feeling of what the victims felt like. And by knowing the background of Mary Warren and the girls, we are able to see that this whole trial was based on lies, and played on the people's fear of the Devil. And we are able to feel not only the frustration of these people who are accused of something they are not involved with, but also the ridiculousness of the accusations in themselves. So I think that Arthur Miller was successful in his motive to ridicule McCarthy while also trying to get the awareness across to the people of the silly nature of not only the Puritans but of McCarthy himself.

How Do You Explain to a Town That You're Not a Child Molester?

Witch Hunt is a documentary narrated and produced by Sean Penn about Bakersfield, California, where dozens of innocent men and women were convicted of child molestation in a mass communal hysteria. The men and women were arrested with little or no evidence, and testimonies against them were from the neighborhood children, sometimes their own children. The documentary follows John Stoll, Jeff Modahl, the Kniffens, the Pitts, and a few other couples that were unjustly arrested starting in 1985.

Twenty years later, as the story unfolds, the accused spend their time in jail. The children, who were all 6 or 7 years old when they accused the adults, begin to come forward about what really happened. The children, most now young adults, admitted that improper questioning techniques were used by the interrogators and social workers, and that they had been coerced into accusing the adults with false testimonies. This did not help the people in jail however. It took a lot of intervention from the California Innocence Project for John Stoll’s charges to be reversed. The release of previously withheld evidence, such as the children’s medical examination records, led to the release of others. No charges were ever brought against the officials who coerced the children.

Watching this documentary reminded me a lot of The Crucible. In both cases, others whose validity can definitely be questioned accuse innocent people, but the accused are powerless against the officials. Both in 1692 and 1985, the men and women were jailed with little or questionable evidence, although in Salem many innocent people died. Also, in Salem the witches were accused of being involved with the devil, and in Bakersfield, there were even satanic allegations.

In both cases, I think the town becoming hysteric fueled the accusations. In the documentary, Jackie Cummings said, “there are a lot of conservative people here, and they all want to feel that they’re safe.” I think this is very similar to Salem, where the town became very frightened and some started convicting people because they were scared for their safety. As Marcella Pitts said, “how do you sit down and explain to a whole town…” that you aren’t a child molester? That you aren’t a witch? Standing up to a town is very difficult, and in both cases proved nearly impossible. Also, the authorities that were stuck in their role as the protector of the towns became blind to the innocence of people and exacerbated this hysteria in the towns. I can’t even imagine what how I would react if I were falsely accused of such a serious crime.