Rhetorical Devices Used In The Crucible

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible focuses on the Salem Witch Trials along with the pointing of fingers that went along with it. Miller wrote this to reflect upon what was occurring during the Red Scare in the 1940’s and 1950’s. The Crucible is written in an ironic and cynical tone mocking the Red Scare.

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.

Ad Hominem: Latin for “against the man,” and refers to the logical fallacy (error) of arguing that someone is incorrect because they are unattractive, immoral, weird, or any other bad thing you could say about them as a person. (https://literaryterms.net/ad-hominem/)

Bo Bennett, a renowned motivational author once stated, “For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth” (“Bo Bennett Quotes”). People think lying can be their way out of hard situations, but it truly impacts more people than yourself. Lying can create a larger situation and Arthur Miller tried to show this idea in the town of Salem by having many conflicts that impact the theme and plot. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller utilizes many rhetorical strategies to illuminate the main idea of hysteria in the town by having many conflicting desires and wants, by using pathos, logos, and imagery. To start, Millers’ use of the pathos shows extreme amount of pity within characters, and also between them.

It is no doubt that even before our time, rhetorical devices were being used in all genres of writing style. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there is an immense amount of rhetorical devices being used. These literary works of writing are both set in the early day Massachusetts colony. There are many similarities and differences, rhetorically speaking. Despite the fact that there is a similar use of rhetorical devices there are many differences.

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.

1. One phrase in Act Three that made a strong impression on me is said by John Proctor. On page 870, Proctor says, “There might also be a dragon with five legs in my house, but no one has ever seen it.” I found this interesting because it shows how foolish the people are to believe that Elizabeth Proctor is a witch. The court accuses Elizabeth for keeping a poppet to use it to harm Abigail. Parris claims that even though nobody has seen poppets in the Proctor household, Elizabeth could still have hidden them. John Proctor replies with a rhetorical question that shows Parris’s accusation as irrational.

During the late 1940’s and the early 1950’s, America acted out of fear instead of their head. Author Miller motivated to write The Crucible due to his being alive during the late 1950’s when McCarthyism was prevalent in the U.S. He was trying to make the comparison of the two-time periods. Author Miller wrote The Crucible to point out the hysteria caused by the Red Scare by drawing comparisons with fear fueling hysteria, the ignoring of evidence, and types of people who were falsely accused.

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.

The Crucible was written as a response to the Red Scare. The reason he wrote this story was he saw similarities between himself and the Red Scare and the Witchcraft trials. So he wrote about them. A similarity was such as Arthur Miller Cheated on his wife just like John Proctor did in Act I of The Crucible. So this is my conclusion, The Crucible is a social commentary over communism in the

‘The Crucible’ is an allegory. An allegory is a story with an obvious meaning but if you look deeper into it, there is another meaning. In this case, the obvious meaning is the Salem witch-hunt and the hidden meaning is McCarthyism. McCarthyism started in the early 1950’s and it was governmental accusations with no evidence. Joseph McCarthy started doing trials on those he thought were communist, but he had no evidence for it. This is the same as the witch trials in The Crucible. Arthur Miller wrote this in response to McCarthyism.

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.

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, revolves around the Salem witch trials of the 15th century. Much of what precedes the play portion of the novel is dedicated to establishing the background of the novel. This passage, in specific, sets the tone of the novel as it describes the ideology of the witch hunts, and how they came into effect. The passage summarizes the fundamental ideas of the witch hunts as a paradox stating, “The witch-hunt was a perverse manifestation of the panic which set among the classes when the balance began to turn toward greater individual freedom” (Miller 11). These words are an important part of the novel because it lays out a groundwork which the rest of the ideas and concepts that are brought up in the novel will build themselves upon. Simply put, it sets the tone for the rest of the novel. It describes the fears that the characters have, and what conflicts they will undergo. For instance, signs of mob mentality can be gleamed from the passage. This can be seen when it says, “balance has yet to be struck between order and freedom” (Miller 11).

Summary: Court is in session. Proctor confesses and accuses Abigail along with himself of committing adultery. Consequently, everyone is astonished. The court is hesitant to believe him and Abigail tries to deny the accusation.

The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations. Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now… 34) Miller is explaining how the court