Power Corrupt In The Crucible

Back in the 1600’s the only people that had a large say in how things would be directed were the ministers and officials. Men generally had the greater influence, especially in Puritan towns like Salem. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, there is an odd shift of power that normally wouldn’t even be possible. Superstition and accusations start going around Salem and people are trying to differ between religious value and common sense. Absolute power and corruption are often a result of fear and this is most evident in The Crucible as young girls gain some influence over the town.

But to what extent are people willing to go under herd mentality? In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials to demonstrate how social pressure can influence innocent people to the extent of confessing lies in order to protect themselves from punishments or death. In the play, it has said that large number of accused have confessed in order to save themselves from execution; however , confession only prevented execution, not time served in jail (A. Miller). Most the the people confess before the court and are freed from execution; those are the majority of the survivors (Brater). However, there is one exception, John Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth Proctor.

The Salem witch trials were a time period when any individual could be accused of witchcraft for numerous reasons. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller focuses on the deviation of the trials and how the town’s most religious and honest members of the community are tried with witchcraft. John Proctor, the town’s most honest man, is accused of being a witch and must decide if he should confess or not. Proctor’s confession will stop the town from rebelling and uphold the reputations of Deputy Governor Danforth and Reverend Parris. Hale also wishes for Proctor’s confession so he does not have to feel responsible if Proctor were to be hanged for his witchcraft accusations.

Proctor will hang! This is what everyone was astonished about in Salem during the witch trials in Arthur Miller’s book, “The Crucible”. John Proctor decided that he wanted to prove a point to everyone about witchcraft. He did this by, not signing his name on the paper that he confessed on because he wanted to be able to keep his name. How he started to lie to the court about everything such as being a witch.

According to founding father Thomas Paine, “Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and angels know of us” (“Reputation”). Whether individuals readily admit it or not, everyone cares about what others think or say about them to some extent. Though people are constantly told to not take to heart what others believe about them, they still do. In Arthur Miller’s drama, The Crucible, Salem’s society is collapsing and innocent characters are taking action because their reputation is at stake due to the false accusations of involving themselves in witchcraft. These characters live in such fear that if their pride is tarnished they will never recover from it.

Spreading Fear to Maintain Power Arthur Miller's The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts; a town that is soon to be plagued with dark times. When accusations are made that girls of the town are performing witchcraft, everyone is thrown into mass hysteria. With total chaos, some of the members see this as an opportunity to seize control of the situation. These individuals establish and maintain this power through spreading terror and fear over the majority. This is done by threatening other characters, using their unjust credibility and abusing authoritative positions.

The Crucible is a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. When accused of witchcraft by his former servant, Mary Warren, John Proctor finds himself stuck between confessing to save his life or staying true to himself/his principles and face being hanged. He is torn between doing what others think is best and what is morally right, even if it means sacrificing his life. It is acceptable to sacrifice your life for your principles because it allows you to maintain your sense of self as well as preserve the respect others have for you. When you sacrifice your life for your principles, you maintain your sense of self.

The speaker John Proctor, in the playwright The Crucible by Arthur Miller, is portrayed as a noble, and well respected Puritan man. However, it is later revealed that he had an affair with Abigail Williams, as she turns the whole town to chaos to be with him. When Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft by Abigail, Proctor uses logos to convince the court especially Danforth, that his wife is innocent and the girls were lying about their accusations. Yet, the mass hysteria has engulfed the court, making any use of logic useless. So, he uses pathos to appeal the court, tarnishing his name.

Of the themes propagating The Crucible, three are prevalent among others. These are Authority vs. Individual Freedom, Abuse of Power, and the Search for self, or internal struggle. Abuse of power is probably the most extensively used theme amongst those three mentioned. Take for example a rather simple conversation between Proctor and Parris, where Proctor implores Parris, “Can you speak one minute without we land in Hell again? I am sick of Hell!”

Imagine having the power in your hands to have someone that caused you grief hung, to press a button and vaporize a million people, or write a document and be free but, start a war. Throughout our history influential power is always lopsided. Not everyone can have the exact same amount of power their neighbor does. Imagine a world like that; there would not be any kind of government, no society, also no conflict resolution. Those who possess power always take action whether it is positive or negative; also, possessing power doesn’t mean deserving it, power in many aspects is one of the most unstable things known to man.