The Crucible Character Analysis

One of the biggest shocks people hear when it comes to the Crucible is that those characters were real, which makes the weight of their deaths that much heavier. A total of 20 people died in the Salem Witch Trials: 19 of them were hanged, and one was tortured to death by pressing; that person was Giles Corey. Not much is said about Giles Corey in the play, but it is said that actions speak louder than words, and that is true for him. When he refused to utter the names of others that might’ve been involved with witchcraft, he set himself up to be tortured to death and yet never said anything other than “more weight” (Miller, 207). Although he is a minor character, Giles Corey plays the role of an anti-hero, who not only displays probably the biggest act of bravery in the whole play, but also demonstrates the fact that although the judges were “learned and all-powerful”, a high education and obsession for power cannot silence the tenacity displayed by such a truthful character. At the beginning of the play, Giles had a proclivity to say things that he didn’t understand were accusatory and ends up becoming this sort of villain-like character, but through a turn of events, he ended up becoming an unlikely hero. As Giles is introduced, Reverend Parris and the others are discussing the situation with Betty and what might be wrong with her, and Giles unknowingly says “Is she going to fly again? I hear she flies.” (Miller, 150). He didn’t mean to accuse her of being a witch, he