Individual Freedom Vs. Conformity In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

Irving Wallace, an American author and screenwriter, once stated: “To be one’s self, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity.” Wallace admired those who were not afraid to be the “lone wolf” and stick to their own individual ideas and character, no matter the consequences. People often view submission as the one and only route; they see a majority of the population following one another and figure it is the best option. Unfortunately, conformity does have its consequences. In The Crucible, Miller reveals that the overwhelming pressures to conform causes one’s rationality to be diminished, resulting in the destruction of their morals and ultimately a society through his use of situational and dramatic irony.

Communism. Witchcraft. These two highly controversial topics are either feared or adored by people. There are numerous similarities and differences between both, yet one thing is prominent: they both incite hysteria. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegorical play mirroring 1950’s America during the Red Scare. “McCarthyism” is the act of accusing someone of an act of treason without substantial evidence. It relies on the uncertainty and the fear of the unknown among people, which in turn, incites hysteria. Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists without much evidence or reason. The accusations in The Crucible also are proposed without evidence and cause much hysteria among the town. Since The Crucible was written as an

In 1953 a play is written by Arthur Miller, a man questioned by the House Representatives for believing in a communist reform. A man who had refused to give up the names of others at communist meetings would be convicted of contempt of Congress, issued a fine, given a prison sentence, blacklisted, and even disallowed a US passport. All this lead to Arthur Miller writing a play called The Crucible. A play which was set in Salem, Massachusetts in the years 1692-93, the time of the Salem Witch Trials. One of the points Miller expressed was history repeating itself, showing that America was going on a “witch hunt” for those who believed in communism, just as the people of Salem went on a witch hunt for those who practiced witchcraft. Miller, having historical accuracy in his play, got the point across that history had repeated itself, yet the historical accuracy might not have been perfect in the play, mainly because plays can overlook environmental detail and will change aspects of events to add a sense of drama. Following the play were filmed adaptions which were more likely to be accurate historically since films are given more freedom with sites they can film at and editing that can be done to further enhance an event in history. The film adaptions of The Crucible are more accurate than any stage performance of it for three simple reasons; Consistency, the portrayal of characters/environments, and the addition of historical detail.

What keeps the world running and interesting? The answer is our problems. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller says “When one rises above the individual villainy displayed, one can only pity them all, just as we shall be pitied someday. It is impossible for man to organize himself without repression, and the balance has yet to be struck between order and freedom.” It is no surprise that our society is not perfect, but it must stay imperfect. If we were to have a world where there was peace and tranquility everywhere, what would be the point in our existence? With no oppression, we would have no goals. Therefore, balance has yet to be struck. Repression dominates and freedom is constantly a struggle. When freedom is achieved, order is needed to keep chaos at bay. As Arthur Miller stated, balance has yet to be found in this country since order and freedom cannot coexist.

At first glance the book The Crucible can look like an ordinary book that is dramatized and fictionalized, but when you look further into the story you will find that it has a much deeper and underlying message. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for the Red Scare in the McCarthy era because people accused others of witchcraft with no evidence, they believed whoever had this spirit in them were sinful, and whoever were accused it affected their lives horrendously.

American playwright, Arthur Miller, in his play The Crucible, implies that witch hunts still exist in American society. Miller supports this claim by drawing parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the Senator Joseph Mccarthy Trials. His purpose is to warn his readers of the dangers of mass hysteria. He uses emotional appeals and logic to convince the reader that mass “hunts” are still a danger to Americans today. The central way, however, that Miller achieves his topmost goal of displaying the hazards of Individuality vs. Ideology is through the expressive characterization of Reverend John Hale. John hale is an example of outward conformity because he believes in the devil in the beginning, he sees that the girls are

The play The Crucible, was written by Arthur Miller in 1953. It is a story he wrote after his own experience being accused of communism. This affected a lot of well-known people in the United States during this time, and was considered a witch hunt similar to the Salem witch hunts. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible about a man, John Proctor, who has an affair with Abigail Williams. She catches feelings for him and tries to cast a spell on John Proctor’s wife to kill her; this gets out of hand when Abigail’s uncle catches her and some other girls dancing during the spell in the woods. Suddenly, the whole town is living in fear of who is practicing witchcraft, who could be a witch, and innocent people are killed if they don’t confess to being witches. Overall, mass fear and panic, and false accusations are seen over and over throughout the play.

 The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a play that takes place in the sixteen nineties during the famous but tragic witch trials. The entire community is in pandemonium yet certain characters are also fighting internal conflicts. Miller uses three characters that manifest this internal battle ever so clearly: Mary Warren whose whole world turns upside down, John Proctor who must weigh the importance of his family against his reputation and Reverend Hale who must decide whether to do his job, or do what he knows to be right. 

The play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller was written in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s. In 1692 and 1693 the Salem witch trials took place in Salem Massachusetts. Girls believed to be involved in witchcraft were responsible for these trials. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s senator McCarthy came to office. Senator McCarthy and some of his allies were responsible for hysteria in the United States of America in the 1950’s. The scare was also in result of a communist scare after World War II and leading to the cold war. The behavior of the people of the Salem witch trials and Americans in the 19050’s resulted in a big scare in reaction to hysteria.

The Crucible is a play by Arthur Miller written in the 1950’s. It was set in the 1690’s in Massachusetts. The play is about the witch trials and how something like a group of girls in the woods could lead to about 200 people being hanged and accused of witchcraft. The people of Salem were new to Massachusetts as they were puritans who went off to America to set up a new religious colony . The people were new to their surroundings had the Native Americans as enemies because they took their land. Although the Crucible is about the witch trials, it is thought to be a metaphor for the McCarthy Communist trials

Roxana Saberi; an Iranian prisoner of war, once said, " I learned that maybe other people can hurt my body, maybe they could imprison me, but I did not need to fear those who hurt my body, because they could not hurt my soul, unless I let them.” Even when faced with adversity, Saberi and many others before and after her time have shown that choosing to rebel against conformity builds a strong sense of individuality. This is revealed in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible and Frederick Douglass', The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, when John Proctor and Frederick Douglass make the decision to go against the norms of their communities. Through both Proctor and Douglass, Miller and Douglass highlight the development of a sense of self

Arthur Miller is considered one of the greatest American playwrights of the 20th century. He has written many acclaimed plays, including The Crucible. Written in 1953, The Crucible uses the historical perspective of the Salem Witch Trials which took place between 1962 and 1963. A lot of the inspiration for the events that take place in the play were from the McCarthyism era that was taking place at the time. It is evident that The Crucible is a critical look at the way the Communist hunt was handled, and used the hysteria and madness of the witch trials to show how history repeats itself. The relationship between men and women and the way the woman in the society is treated is also a prominent theme throughout the play.

Roxana Saberi once said, " I learned that maybe other people can hurt my body, maybe they could imprison me, but I did not need to fear those who hurt my body, because they could not hurt my soul, unless I let them.” Even when faced with adversity, Saberi and many others before and after her time have shown that choosing to rebel against conformity builds a strong sense of individuality. This is revealed in Arthur Miller's, The Crucible and Frederick Douglass', The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, when John Proctor and Frederick Douglass make the decision to go against the norms of their communities. Through both Proctor and Douglass, Miller and Douglass show the development of a sense of self and confidence when standing by an

How much influence can a group of people with power have on society? In the story, The Crucible, author Arthur Miller depicts a group of girls lead by Abigail Williams, who are going around the town of Salem accusing people of witchcraft. Many people in the town are living in fear of being accused because Abigail and the girls prosecute anyone they desire. After being prosecuted, some people choose to join the girl’s side and shift the blame to someone else.

Arthur Miller is an American playwright who wrote The Crucible in 1952. The story is basically about a time of suspicion and accusation of many innocent women and men caused by a group of girls doing witchcraft that led to hysteria and complete turmoil in Salem village, and this exists in the late 1600s . It was actually written on the heels of World War II, during a time when the United States, especially Senator Joseph McCarthy as one of the most outstanding people at the time, was highly concerned about the rising power of the Soviet Union’s communism that would infiltrate the US leading to a significant amount of paranoia within the American government as compared to the paranoia about witchcraft in the play. Therefore, Arthur Miller must write The Crucible and mainly make a strong connection to this political and social event occuring after the World War II, and even relates that to himself.