ipl-logo

Effects Of Fear In The Crucible

534 Words3 Pages

Fear is mankind’s greatest enemy. It causes ordinary people to do irrational things that someone in the right mind would not do. As stated by former president Franklin D. Roosevelt in his inaugural address, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself”’. Fear is something that could end all humanity. It causes humans to turn against each other in order to better themselves. A great example of this is shown throughout “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller when the townspeople have an intense fear the devil, “If she is truly in the Devil’s grip we may have to rip and tear to get her free” (Miller 37). The power of the Devil is blown to great proportions where it influences people’s everyday lives. “The Crucible” was written to teach people the harmful effects of scapegoating and hysteria. Arthur Miller does not want history to repeat itself so we must learn from it and go forward. …show more content…

It is easier to go with the flow than to go against it. Hysteria causes people to think irrationally and make decisions that they regret later. If a group of people believe and say that someone was evil, then other people may label that person as such without even knowing him or her. In “The Crucible”, Mary transfers the blame put on her by accusing Proctor of making her do the Devil’s work, “You’re the Devil’s man!” (Miller 110). This shifts the attention of the court in another direction and causes Proctor to look evil. The Salem Witch Trials was created because of a bunch of accusations made towards people who were disliked, were a social outcast, or too old to be useful. The most accused people were the woman who were too old to bear children. In this society the role of the women was to create children and when that was no longer possible, they lost their role and usefulness, causing people try and get rid of

Show More
Related

  • Mass Hysterias In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    648 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fear—“a darkroom where negatives develop”(Asif). People in history are bound by fear, so great that it causes mass hysterias. As portrayed in Arthur Miller's The Crucible, the Salem Witch Trials brought fear to everyone of being accused of being a witch. Everyone is afraid of being accused of being a witch, so people started to accuse each other. Just like the hysteria in the Salem Witch Trials, the September Eleventh event occurred when a plane crashed into the Twin Towers by Muslim hijackers.

    Read More

  • Causes Of Hysteria In The Crucible

    571 Words  | 3 Pages

    who's to blame for the hysteria in salem ? In The crucible(1953), Arthur Miller expresses that mass hysteria is the product of several people and can cloud one’s judgement. A Group of girls were found dancing in the woods, which is illegal due to their religious belief. One of the younger girls was diagnosed with the symptoms of being a “witches”.

    Read More

  • Why Is Fear Important In The Crucible

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    Research Essay Fear can occur when a person has a feeling of threat or danger and sometimes harm or anxiety for oneself or another. Fear can often influence a person to take extreme measures and act irrationally. For instance there are a number of parallels between the treatment of of the accused during the Salem Witch Trials and the treatment of Muslims after 9/11 ; In both cases, people were being belittled and downgrading, and society was in a state of grief and shock and it all resulted in discrimination of the accused. Almost each person in Salem wanted vengeance for various reasons due to that people who were accused of witchcraft were constantly belittled and did not have a fair chances during the trials In Salem.

    Read More

  • Red Scare Vs The Crucible

    749 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

    Read More

  • Comparing Fear In The Crucible And The Sinner

    686 Words  | 3 Pages

    Fear has the power to impact our actions and measures taken to ensure tranquility. The Crucible and Edward’s Sinners, both take place in a Puritan place where religion is the number one priority. The Puritans were a group of english reformed protestants, who moved migrated to America to avoid the restrictions on their religion in England. Religion is a sacred and very important concept of the way the Puritans live their lives. The power struggle between God and the devil is clearly showcased in the Crucible and in Sinners.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Character Analysis

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Power, the ability to maintain control, command, or authority over others can often be determined by one’s reputation and their ability to persuade others. This principle is displayed within The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, which follows the town of Salem, Massachusetts navigating through a “Witchcraft” outbreak supposedly lead by the Devil. Within such a theocratic society such as Salem, the Devil is often associated with death, fear, and uncertainty, with his name alone often believed to influence others into following through with certain actions. The Devil, as a key figure behind the “witchcraft” occurring in Salem, is crafted by Miller as the most influential “character” based off the fear derived from his infamous reputation and his ability to control characters’ actions.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Essay On Fear

    828 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Fuel to the Fire: Fear Though many say that one can never make the wrong choice, author Tony Robbins feels that “a decision made from fear is always a wrong decision.” He alludes to the idea that fear can often overthrow one's best judgment and go on to negatively impact their decision-making. Interestingly enough, this seems to best sum up the origin of the Salem Witch era, a time when constant fear controlled the minds of many and allowed for the making of countless poor decisions. It ultimately encouraged people to accuse each other of witchcraft based on spectral evidence alone, resulting in the death of 25 innocent individuals and a great deal of suffering.

    Read More

  • Anxiety In The Crucible

    162 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are plenty of effects of anxiety that people may feel. As shown, the most commonly effects are depression, anger and being an introvert. In the play, Parris reacted angrily due to the fact that he was scared of having witchcraft around since it will cause his people to drive him out of town. Throughout the play many people reacted to witchcraft with agression which caused a mass hysteria, and countless executions and hangings. Even though in the end of the story abigail, who is responsible for the deaths of innocent people accused of witchcraft left town John proctor still ended up dying from her evil act.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: Theme Of Hysteria In Everyday Life And Society

    481 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible Essay The theme of hysteria is evident throughout Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and in everyday life and society. Driven by self-preservation, hysteria influences many characters’ actions and leads to the devastating witch trials in Salem. For instance, many characters in The Crucible are driven to execute drastic actions to sustain their reputation and protect themselves.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Conformity In The Crucible

    692 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Crucible, Arthur Miller argues that conformity and fear can cause human nature to make a mess of things very quickly. The characters of his play live in an unchecked Puritanical theocracy that is very strict and the courts cannot be challenged or questioned. This and the power of fear causes all the townsfolk to act in a vindictive way that they normally wouldn’t have. The Salem Witch Trials are far from the only example in history of human’s pack nature causing chaos. Many prominent conformity events in history have been during times of war and confusion.

    Read More

  • Fear And Hysteria In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    339 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Crucible Essay Rough Draft In Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible,” he analyzes fear and how it is used to reveal the hysteria of the characters caused by the witch trials. CONTINUE INTRO Miller shows how the citizens of Salem neglect to confess, due to their fear of the court. Mary attempts to convince Proctor that "they will not hang them if they confess" (Miller 48).

    Read More

  • What Is The Cause Of Hysteria In The Crucible

    1451 Words  | 6 Pages

    Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.

    Read More

  • Fear In The Crucible And The Holocaust

    1085 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Crucible Fear has effected much of history. Many of these events in history are very similar. One of the biggest examples in history would be The Holocaust. An example would be the Salem witch trails which were depicted in the book The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible and The Holocaust are related because one person was to blame for the mass hysteria, there was one person in power, fear was used to control the people and many people were wrongly punished.

    Read More

  • Hysteria The Crucible

    760 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historic play but more importantly is a social and psychological drama that takes place in a small puritan town in Salem Massachusetts. Many different themes find their way through this play but the most important theme is the danger of Hysteria, reputation, and Intolerance can destroy a town no matter the strength of the people in the town. As this play was written during the red scare during the cold war this play shows many aspects as McCarthyism which had similar event that the Salem witch trials had but with the red scare. Hysteria was a major factor in the many accusations of witchcraft that occurred throu out the play “The crucible”, the first example is when the young girls of the community of Salem,

    Read More

  • Fear In The Crucible

    819 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Crucible: How Fear Changes People During his first Inaugural Address, Franklin D. Roosevelt once announced, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. Fear manipulates a persons rationality resulting in them behaving in ways they normally would not, especially in the story The Crucible written by Arthur Miller. The characters in The Crucible allow fear to manipulate their beliefs and actions. They all know what is right, but fear alters their mindset causing them to act differently.

    Read More

More about Effects Of Fear In The Crucible

Open Document