Integrity and Courage in The Crucible In “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller tells the gruesome story of the Salem Witch trials and what people went through when it happened. Throughout the “The Crucible” they are many themes the author reveals such as revenge, guilt, hypocrisy, and authority. The most common theme in “The crucible” is integrity and courage, that justice and truth into any situation. Mary Warner shows integrity and courage when she tells Abigail they need to confess and tell the truth about what they have done. In Act 1, Mary shows integrity and courage when she says“Abby, we’ve got to tell. Witchery’s a hangin’ error, a hangin’ like they done in Boston two years ago”(892). Mary also says, “We must tell the truth Abby”(892). When Mary says this to Abigail she shows integrity by wanting to be truthful and open up so she doesn’t feel guilty. Mary also shows courage by standing up to Abby and telling her that they need to confess. Integrity and courage was shown when she stayed truthful to herself and others. …show more content…
In Act 2, courage is shown when John says, “This warrant is vengeance! I’ll not give my wife to vengeance”(929). Elizabeth then said to John, “I’ll go John”(929). John exhibits courage by standing up for his wife and against the men who came to take her away. His wife Elizabeth shows both integrity and courage by staying truthful to herself and the warrant to prove that she was never been apart of any witch things. John and Elizabeth Proctor have shown both integrity and courage through truth and
John’s courage is really shown in act 2 when his wife Elizabeth is about to get arrested and he rips the warrant apart to oppose the charges against her. After he tears the warrant, he later says “If she is innocent! ….Is the accuser always holy now?
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses themes to display thoughts throughout the book. The theme that seems to be the center point of the story is religion. Religion is on the character’s minds with every action they do. When something goes wrong in the town, religion is sought out as a cause. When the witch trials begin, the devil is supposed to be the source of the troubles. Arthur Miller vividly uses religion to show the readers how important religion is to the people of Salem.
This is shown when she cannot faint along with when Abigail and the girls felt a cool breeze. The only reason Mary blamed Proctor was because she could not be considered a witch by the person she follows, and if proven a witch, Mary would have been killed. This was demonstrated in “The Crucible’ by “My name, he want my name. “I’ll murder you,” he says “if my wife hangs! We must go and overthrow the court,” he says.” Although Mary said this, she had nobody to follow because her “leader” Abigail did not make a scene for them to act along to. However, Parris states before that line “The Devil’s Book? He came with a book?” From this, Mary is able to stay being on Abigail’s side, proving her as a static character, in the
In the play The Crucible, Acts I and II, Mary Warren allows Abigail Williams to negatively affect her good judgement. To add on, Mary was scared of Abigail's threats. Mary may not have the courage to help John Proctor win his case in Act III. Mary Warren is a lonely and weak character that refuses to stand up and do what she knows is the right thing.
But Mary is too scared because she is afraid that if she confesses the truth then the girls will turn on her and try to hang her.“ I cannot, they’ll turn on me-” (page # 931). I can see where she is coming from because if this were me I to would be scared for my life. Abby threatens everyone in the beginning that if anyone confesses against her she will kill them, and she knows how to do it because she witnessed the death of her own
In Act 4, Mary Warren is afraid of Abigail, so she blamed John Proctor to keep Abigail from blaming her of being a witch. When she sees that the group of girls and Abigail has turned against by pretending that they see a spirit that Mary Warren has send out to attack them. Then Mary has seen they turn their back on her that she chooses to return back to Abigail and called out John Proctor as a witch then saying, “Abby, I’ll never hurt you more”. This shows how she truly fears Abigail and the other accusing girls and seeing what they can do by lying. Even though she known Abigail a big fat liar and John is an innocent man, Mary
The Crucible A book by Arthur Miller, is structured around the idea of authority and who really has authority. Miller represents these ideas with the Salem Witch Trials. In Miller’s interpretation of the event, he integrates the theme by letting Abigail gain authority. She is able to get enough power to do anything. Leading to the theme of authority. With Hale and Proctor’s truth getting trumped by Abigail’s authority.
Arthur Miller writes about the tragic results of human failings in his play, The Crucible. He presents characters from the past and infuses them with renewed vitality and color. Miller demonstrates the horrifying results of succumbing to personal motives and flaws as he writes the painful story of the Salem witch trials. Not only do the trials stem from human failings but also from neglect of moral and religious considerations of that time. Characters begin to overlook Puritan values of thrift and hope for salvation. Focusing on the flawed characters, they begin to exhibit land lust, envy of the miserable and self-preservation.
Can you picture yourself in a town where just the color of your shoes would be evidence that you could be a witch? Arthur Miller in The Crucible uses courage, weakness, and truth to help the readers relate to the play. There is copious amounts of themes going in and out of the play but these three seem to stick the most. In The Crucible various characters show these themes and really pull you into the story.
How would you feel waking up in a town everyday and thinking, “ I wonder who got accused of witchcraft today.” I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon but that’s what life was like back during the Salem witch trials. Lots of innocent people are accused and hanged for supposedly being witches. Some accusations were just plain simple. For example if I didn’t like someone else I could accuse them of stealing my land. During the witch trials accusations like that could mislead people in a different way. If the townspeople hear something like that, they will almost accuse that person right away. During these trials, Arthur Miller in The Crucible uses the thematic concepts of strength, courage, and weakness to invoke empathy within the reader. I will summarize which characters in The Crucible show strength, courage, and weakness throughout the book.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller, was written in the 1950's about the Nazi 'Witch Trials', and has several underlying themes. Some of the themes can be thought of as universal as they relate to both the time period the book takes place in and also when the book was written. Hysteria, religion and family are the most universal themes within The Crucible.
The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, is a chronological narrative including a large cast of characters with a constantly moving setting.* The Crucible is a dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and an allegory of the McCarthyism period. Throughout the play, Miller explores the destruction of freedom by the ignorant and tyrannical society in which his characters live.* By exhibiting how easily a member of the community can become an outcast, Arthur Miller displays social criticism in the Puritan society as well as in today's society in The Crucible.
Courage is seen through Elizabeth Proctor’s willingness to accept her husband's final choice in life. In Act IV, Elizabeth chooses not to try to persuade John Proctor to sign the confession when he is being taken away to be hanged, “He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him ( Miller 134). John chose to be hanged rather than sign a false confession betraying his friends in an attempt to have at least some integrity left, this is the goodness Elizabeth is referring to. She refuses to take it away from him by attempting to persuade him to sign the confession because she knows that little bit of integrity is all he has left after all his sins. It takes immense courage to allow a dearly loved one to choose such a fate, even if it’s what is considered the right choice and Elizabeth portrays this perfectly.
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a tragic story of injustice suffered by an innocent community who are subjected to the hypocritical, prideful judges of their trial. These Judges use their power to eliminate evidence of their mistakes and return their community to puritanical ways. The leaders of Salem are not concerned with seeking the truth and justice, but with maintaining their authority and reputations; this objective leads them to consistently rejecting truth, against all logic and evidence of their senses.
The play “The Crucible” has many different themes to it. It could be many different things in many different ways. One feels that the main theme is to tell the truth and be honest. One believes that the main theme is that because the reader shouldn’t lie, the reader should always tell the truth cause no one will ever know what to expect if the reader lies. In the play and story it has many scenes of people lying to not get in-trouble and it lead to many consequences after they lied. This was all from McCarthyism and Witchcraft that spread around.