A superstition is a belief based on myths and not facts. In the play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, Puritans are living in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem Witch Trials. They are avid believers in two different worlds: the natural world and the invisible world. The invisible world consisted of evil creatures that hide in the natural world. They also strongly believe in the idea that God gives signs, good or bad, to express how he feels about them during certain times. For example, a natural disaster may signify that the Puritans are doing something wrong.Hence, the Puritans constantly checked for signs for God and became overly paranoid.The superstitious nature of the Puritans have lead them to steer away from traveling in the dark, reading unholy books, and poppets.
God-fearing Puritans never visited houses after dark. This superstition that the Puritans believe in, stated that people traveling in the dark should not be trusted. This is seen when Hale knocks on Proctor's door in the night to inform him about the gossip going around about his wife, and
…show more content…
Another activity that made Puritans apprehensive, was the reading of books other than the Bible. This is expressed when Giles Corey tells Reverend Hale that his wife, Martha, reading strange books “discomforts [him]!” He then goes on to say the night before he “ tried and tried and could not say [his] prayers. And then when she closes her book and walks out the house” he could suddenly praying again (1117). Giles was skeptical of this incident mainly because, during this era, the Puritans did not allow unholy books to be read for pleasure because they were thought to go against God and all that he stands for. They believed that if there was a book given by God, himself, then it should be the only piece of writing that should be read by those who believe in his grace. Due to this suspicion, Martha is later put on trial as an accused