Cause And Effect Of The Crucible

A crucible is known as a very severe situation, or a trial. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, the people of Salem experienced a crucible when they went through the witch trials. The trials became so severe that innocent people were dying in ways such as hanging or having boulders placed on them. The Crucible got its name from the trials, the impact it had on society, and other after effects of the trial. The main reason for The Crucible getting its name is from the severe trials. During the trials, the townspeople all had to choose which story they believed. They either believed Proctor, who said there was no witchcraft in the town, or Abigail, who claims there is witchcraft and accuses several people of it. The judges, who have

All of this happened because of the beliefs that society had on these people. While most of the people in the play were hanged, some of the people died in different ways. One these methods was by placing boulders on their chest until they could no longer breathe, which is what was used on Giles Corey. Although Giles wasn’t accused of witchcraft, he was killed because he refused to tell the court the name of the person he got information from. His death is explained when Elizabeth tells Proctor, “He would not answer ay or nay to his indictment; for if he denied the charge they’d hang him surely, and auction out his property. So he stand mute, and died Christian under the law” (Miller 84). Because he didn’t side with society, the court eventually had Giles killed for his belief. A few years ago, an event similar to this occurred down at a college in Oregon. A shooter came to the campus and would ask the people if they believed in God. If the person said yes, the shooter would kill them. During this event, people were singled out for what they believed in, and if they didn’t have the beliefs that were expected, they were killed. After all of the impact that society had on this event, the Salem Witch Trials eventually became a “crucible”. The trials, society’s beliefs, and the killing of innocent people all cause The Crucible to get its name. The people’s different beliefs were the main cause for these severe trials to happen. Sadly, there are still other “crucibles” going on in our world today that have caused beliefs to become severe events. With all the events in the play, Arthur Miller was able to show the real meaning of a