Crucible Essay Fear can change people in many ways. Three of them are by making people afraid of change, by making them avoid possible death, and also by staying away from what they fear. First off, fear fear makes people afraid of how people see them. They are afraid of their life being a certain way that they don’t feel is right. There are examples of this in real life and in the crucible. Like Mrs. Putnam talking about her daughter saying, “Her soul is taken, surely.” (Act 1, Page 835) she is afraid that the devil has taken her over and has made her unholy. Also when Rev. Parris says, “ I am certain there be no element of witchcraft here.” (Act 1, Page 835) He is afraid that if the people of Salem believe there is witchcraft, then he will lose his “good” reputation. The people have a fear for this witchcraft and are afraid it will take over their families. This is why fear makes people afraid. …show more content…
Theres just something about death that everybody wants to try to avoid. They try any way that they can and this can cause much fear in some people. LIke for example, Mrs. Proctor told Danforth she was is pregnant. Danforth says, “Mr. Proctor, this morning, your wife send me a claim in which she claims she is pregnant.” (Act 3, Page 866) She knew she would be put to death if she didn’t say this, and what drove it out of her was her fear of dying. Another example is when Mr. Proctor had the choice to die or confess he is a witch and he proclaimed, “I want my life!” (Act 4, Page 884) He knew he would die unless he confessed, even if he knew it was wasn’t the right thing to do. It was the only way he could stay alive at the time, and the fear of dying was too much for him. The fear of death is what led these people to make the decisions they
Fear. Most people have it and in a single moment it can turn a normal person insane. In the play, The Crucible, they use Fear and Hysteria to coax the town into believing in witches, the power of fear can make the average person do unusual things, go against people, and make them go against themselves. In certain situations Fear and Hysteria can be used in good ways as a natural protection against the dangers that occur, but sometimes that same fear can lead to death. Arthur Miller portrays this in the Salem Village when a large amount of the village is accused of being bewitched.
Hysteria and Fear The rise of hysteria and fear seems to build and evolve and it has a huge impact on the way things are viewed in the world today. The relevance of the theme hysteria in The Crucible does relate to modern society in different ways. In the crucible mass hysteria can have a massive impact on any community and the results can be devastating.
This excerpt from "The Crucible", written by Arthur Miller demonstrates how fear can overwhelm people in different ways and shows how strong an individual must be to deal with this fear. Although people in this society may appear strong and claim that they oppose the devil, everyone is weakened by human instincts which forces some people to yield to the devil's commands. "The boot of Lucifer" haunts everyone in the court room and forces even the strongest of men to face their ignorance. This scene is particularly powerful because it describes how Proctor is completely overwhelmed with fear and frustration with the court to a point where he "laughs insanely". Proctor has reached a point of insanity and can no longer bear the weight of the burden he brought
Fear drives the actions of the people in Salem including, Betty Parris, Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams. Each character's actions are influenced by their fear of getting in trouble. This fear of getting in trouble causes people to create false stories trying to save themselves. That is why fear is the most destructive force in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller.
We all have fear. Fear is on display everywhere in today’s world, often through television, and then spread to our family and friends. Fear is a part of our lives, and something we can only hope to control. In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a group of girls put lives in danger, by accusing people of witchcraft. This causes a fervor of fear in the town, and we watch it spread throughout the play. In The Crucible, fear enables dishonestly in the town, people to be accused, and lives to be lost.
The Massachusetts Bay Company in the late 17th century attributed many things to supernatural forces, as there was still a lack of scientific explanations for how things worked. Additionally, the Puritan’s sharp religious values caused them to fear any sign of the devil, including witches. The Crucible by Arthur Miller addresses the overwhelming fear that led to the Salem witch trials. Fear led Salem towards hysteria by swaying people away from admitting the truth and by forcing people to protect their reputation through maintaining the hysteria.
Fear, an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat ( Dictionary.com). The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, takes place in the small Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. Much of the land occupied was still unknown to the townspeople. Having limited amount of knowledge of their surroundings, people began to believe that the Devil is roaming around them. Many things, such as witches and spirits, became unknown to them which led to the townspeople fearing it. Rather than learning about the unknown, the people of Salem let it restrict them from making the unknown known. Miller wrote this play as an allegory of a similar incident that happened during the 1950s, the McCarthyism trial. Both events are focused on the fear of the unknown of the people as well as the society. Miller uses the motif of fear to demonstrate how the fear of the unknown causes personal gain amongst
In a form of irrational actions, fear impacted The Salem Witch Trial by people losing their lives. Many people made claims to benefit themselves by getting people hung because they simply did not like them. Not only did people make claims out of spite, but they also made claims out of fear because strange actions were seen as witchcraft. For instance, on page 57 of The Crucible, Mary Warren says, “So many time, Mr. Proctor, she came to this very door, beggin’ for bread and a cup of cider- and mark this: whenever I
Control and worry in any religion is a part of a crucial system. Without worry, people would most likely not be afraid to go against it. In the Crucible, people are afraid of being killed because in the Salems viewpoint, they had done something with the Devil. This instills fear within the people to stay faithful to the Salem, causing the control of the church to have power. “ Then why can she not move herself since midnight? I must come out- my enemies will bring it out. Let me know what you have
In the play The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller fear drives many if not all of the characters. It drives them to do things that they would never do if they had no motivation from another power and in this case it is fear that drives them. Fear could have come from many places but in this case it makes sense that it would come from the church. Everyone is scared of being accused of being a witch. This is a sin punishable with death unless you admit to it but no one wants to be the first person to admit.
Sometimes people are very afraid of telling the truth, their fear makes them live in discouragement. Sometimes, their fear also affects others around them because they lack self confidence .When this happens, important relationships suffer. The play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller has a dramatic storyline the characters struggle with the Puritan authority and the town people having to make a decision on who is telling the truth and who is hiring. The girls make false accusations because of their fear of the Puritan authorities because they torched Tituba and they can do that to them, also by doing this it may make their lives miserable.
The nature of fear and the effect of fear can be summarized by the German proverb, “Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.”7 Fear also prevents you from seeing reason and the process of rational thinking and is the “static that prevents me from hearing myself,” as Samuel Butler put it. The fear is present in different levels in The Crucible. Characters such as Abigail use other people’s fear of witchcraft and the Devil to convince them that she is innocent. Fear is also what turns so many people into liars, for they are afraid of what will happen to them if they tell the truth. Elizabeth Proctor is a truthful woman. She is the embodiment of the perfect Puritan
Fear can lead to a lot of things, but unfortunately, in humans it usually leads to something bad. Throughout history, fear has lead to some of the most violent actions by man, and some of the biggest collapses of organized society. In early American history, the people of Salem experienced this for themselves. Arthur Miller shows this in his book. The society of Salem that Miller creates in The Crucible shows how fear can slowly cause rational thought to deteriorate, leading to mass hysteria and eventually the breakdown of civilized behavior.
At times, fear motivates people to behave unscrupulously. Personal fears instigate some characters in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible to cry witch. Reverend Parris fears losing his job, Abigail fears prosecution and losing John Proctor, and Tituba fears physical retribution. Fear induces people to defend their personal whims and use their power to harm others.
As represented in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, fear played an important role and is exploited by the characters in the play. The Crucible beings with a group of girls accusing people of witchcraft for their selfish benefit.Fear is an emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to inflict pain , or a threat. Fear is an emotion that is capable of overtaking and controlling one’s state of mind and well being. However , fear can be used as a motivation factor. Fear influenced these people to take extreme measures and act irrationally. Additionally, fear is a master of suffering capable of haunting those who patronize it Moreover, in The Crucible this erratic emotion causes people to fear being labeled