Quotes From 'Black And White In The Crucible'

The reason this theme was chosen is because without it the witch hunts would have never been started. Whether the people being accused of witchcraft live or die, depends on truth versus lies. Now, the development of truth versus lie in The Crucible is going to be explained. First, Reverend Parris caught Abigail and Betty dancing in the woods; which is forbidden in Salem. Betty had the choice of telling the truth and getting in trouble or lying and acting like she could not wake up and staying out of trouble.

Firstly, Why was witchcraft illegal, why witchcraft stopped being viewed as a crime? The witchcraft in 1735 made a complete switch in attitudes. Penalties for the practice of witchcraft was usually believed by many famous and important people to be an impossible crime, that was replaced by penalties for the lie of witchcraft. The witchcraft of 1735 stayed in force in Britain into the 20th century, because of the illegal ways of telling witchcraft of 1951. (Wikipedia) During the 16th century, many people believed that witchcraft, rather than the workings of God's will, offered better reason of sudden and unexpected bad fortune, such as the death of a child, bad harvests, or the death of cows and bulls.

Occasion’s Effect The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are very similar even though they took place such a long time from each other. If someone was accused of witchcraft in 1692 they had to confess and lose all social standing or be executed, in the 1950’s if a person was accused of being a communist they would be fired and put on trial, if they would not confess they were blacklisted until they admitted to their “crime”. Arthur Miller used the Salem Witch trials to protest McCarthyism in a somewhat discreet way that proved to be a timeless comfort to the citizens experiencing oppression from their government (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”, 911). As the 1950’s continued, and the McCarthy trials along with it, Miller noticed that the trials had the same overall process of the Salem Trials so he began writing “The Crucible” hoping that his play would help people realize that McCarthyism may not be as justified as it seems (Miller Interview part 1.1). In a discussion between McCarthy and Joseph Welch-a special council for the army-about Fred Fisher-a lawyer and suspected communist who had been recommended by Welch to join McCarthy’s Committee-the topic of a “needlessly inflicted” scar on Fisher caused by McCarthy could make a person wonder how many more scars were given in this publicity stunt (“McCarthy-Welch

Since the beginning of time people have gone through trials in court to either be proven innocent or guilty. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller a massive number of people were being convicted in Salem, Massachusetts because of the witch trials. The law of the land states that everyone is above suspicion until they are demonstrated to be guilty by legitimate evidence; in the play the Crucible if a person was accused of an unlawful act they were summons for being a witch and working for the devil without proper confirmation. Citizens in Salem were imposed to establish their innocent or be put to death, which caused conflicting issues in the village. Therefore, people should not have to prove their innocence.

Danforth stated “Hang them high over town…” Hale tells Danforth that the other girls are lying about the witchcraft but Danforth didn’t listen to Hale that the accused is wrong Danforth began the hanging ( Also signed the warrant of 72 people). “The accuser is always holy” (Act Two) Proctor states that the accuser is right because they are holy, but the 72 innocent people are killed because all of them were misjudged for being or dealing with witchcraft. “I, Sir, am innocent to a witch. II know what a witch is”-Martha Corey “If you know not what a witch is , how do you know you are not one”-Judge Hawthorne Martha was trying to prove her innocence to Judge Hawthorne in the court but then Hawthorne flipped her word around and made her look more guilty than she already is. Mary Warren states “What'll we do?

All references to witchcraft are connected with fear, suspicion and the collapse of normal social values. In the fervor of the witch trials, Abigail is put on a pedestal by the people of Salem and treated as though she has a direct connection with the Divine. Through cold calculation, Abigail carefully selects the people that she accuses in order to establish her credibility. Thus, she first accuses the town’s social deviants, as she knows the court is already predisposed to convict them. Soon a mere accusation from her becomes enough reason to convict even important, influential people.

Abigail used to work for john Proctor and his wife Elizabeth, until Elizabeth found out about the affair between john and Abigail. John repeatedly told Abigail that the affair was over and he would never touch her again saying things like "Abby, I may think of you softly from time to time. But I will cut off my hand before I'll ever reach for you again." (Page 23) but she does not accept this, so she tries to kill Elizabeth Proctor through Witchcraft. If Abigail Williams accepted her relationship with john

Although I cannot directly see the ringing of the bell, the priest does proceed to enter and moves toward the altar after the ringing, so a server might be used to ring the bell as the priest moves forward to the altar. The most apparent liturgical object is the altar that is covered in a white linen with two sets of candles on each end of the altar. During the Eucharistic celebration, the altar is the location where Jesus Christ’s body and blood are consecrated (Papillo). The only person allowed at the altar is the presiding priest. While preparing the Eucharist, some other objects are placed on the altar.

All through history millions of individuals have been shunned, arrested, brutally tortured, prosecuted, and persecuted as witches. One would think that post colonization of the United States these unjust acts to human kind would have ended, but that was not so. In 1692 the Salem Witch Trials took place, an event that was a major catastrophe in United States history. It began when a group of young girls in Salem, Massachusetts declared that they were possessed by the devil and made accusations that several older women were practicing witchcraft and fraternizing with the Devil. The strict Puritan discipline is what incited the girl’s interest in magic and superstitious acts which caused strange behavior starting the witchcraft delirium in

Samuel Parris, the examiner of Bishop, seems to shed a negative light on Bishop. Eventually, as stated in Document A, Bridget Bishop was the first witch to be hanged in the Salem Witch Trials on June 10, 1692. However, Parris happens to be the father of an “afflicted” girl that was enticed by a witch named Tituba. The one thing can be inferred from this document though is that Parris’s experience with witches most likely altered his opinion to be negative towards these people. Despite his bias, Document C supports the conclusion of family ties being the cause of the Salem Witch Trials.

Once the individual confessed they were no longer facing execution, but they still faced imprisonment. Multiple accused individuals died while they were in prison, due to the terrible conditions. During the time of imprisonment the accused people were said to have been tortured and even denied water to try and get them to confess to being witches. One common story that is spoken with the Salem Witch Trials really shows how far they went with the situation. That story involves a man named Giles Corey, who was accused of being a witch, but unlike the others he refused to plead in any way.

This made Osborne look more guilty than Good. (Rice) Lastly, Tituba went into the stand. During questioning, she claimed that she did not hurt the children, but the Devil who resided in her, made her do so. Tituba then admitted to pinching Abagail and Betty in their sleep so they would fall under the evil hand. Tituba then claimed she met a man, the Devil himself, and he made her sign his book in her blood.

The girls “twitched, cried, made odd noises, and huddled in corners” and soon started making accusations about who had bewitched them. One of the first accused was Samuel Parris’ own slave, Tituba. It was unheard of for a Reverend to have witchcraft practiced under his own roof, and Parris could not afford to lose his reputation. Samuel stood by his children in court as they testified against the accused, and he even helped them by testifying against Rebecca Nurse. People thought for certain that if the Reverend was standing with the girls against the so called “evil witches” that there must be a real problem.

She was questioned if she had devoted to witchcraft, which she replied to with, “I am as innocent as the child unborn.” However, her defense did not save her from being prosecuted. She was later on hanged on the 10th of June in what became the Gallows

Because of a servant telling the children of the town of sorcery and the devil, they began to believe what they had heard. The town was scared of the “possessed” people, thinking that killing them would stop the problem. Sadly, over 24 men, women and children died because they were assumed to have possessed by the devil. Bridget Bishop was the first accused and was hung on June 10, 1692. Many followed, until the court overruled the judgement of the mayor.