Although the novel, The Crucible took place a long time ago, the ideas and aspects of the play connect strongly to our current lives. A common theme that relates to modern America is greed. Abigail Williams, who takes part in the majority of the play definitely is the instigator of issues. All of the town 's problems somehow connect back to her. The strongest connections to me are the use of rumors, peer pressure, and wanting to gain power. One of the main characters named Abigail Williams causes most of the rumors in the play. She is the leader of the younger girls who start the trouble in the town. The way she acts is very similar to the way a highschool girl may behave, but on a more extreme level. One of the first things she does in the …show more content…
The last strong connection is the power struggle in the play compared to current day. Again Abigail is the center of the problem with her obsession of being with John Proctor. Her small lies begin to get bigger as she realized what kind of power she gains. She tries to manipulate John by reminding him about their affair from before. Her goal is to replace Elizabeth and be with John instead. This kind of manipulation and struggle has been going on ever since and continues heavily in current day. Everyone at one point in their life has said something false to benefit themselves. This same issue happens between Thomas Putnam and Reverend Parris. Thomas is a wealthy man who owns land in Salem and only wants to gain more. He wanted the land of the church but Parris got to it first so now he holds a grudge against him. When a group of people are in the court Giles Corey states, “If Jacobs hangs for a witch he forfeit up his property-that’s law! And there is none but Putnam with the coin to buy so great a piece. This man is killing his neighbors for their land.” (The Crucible, page …show more content…
After connecting the three points to evidence in the play and to real life it’s easy to see the similarities. Rumors are the start to all problems in the play and the start to most problems involving social status. In present day rumors are spread like wildfire throughout schools. The problem is people believe anything they hear, doesn’t need to be from a reliable source. The next big problem in the play was peer pressure. Like mentioned earlier some of the characters felt the need to join in on things just because everyone else was. The strict rules of the time period made lying easier than telling the truth, same as today with overstressed kids. The last issue talked about was power gain. A big motivation for the characters was them trying to get something that wasn’t theirs. Overall, the point of connecting all these problems from puritan time to modern time was to show it’s a bigger issue. If these social issues are still happening hundreds years later that might mean it’s time for a
Thomas Putnam 's loss of inheritance and authority instigates his desire to punish fellow community members. Putnam reveals himself as a "man with many grievances" (13) and shows that his "vindictive nature was demonstrated long before witchcraft began" (14). Prior to the witchcraft trials, Putnam experiences multiple personal conflicts that created a fiery desire for vengeance. These conflicts include the community failing to recognize his land inheritance and selecting Parris as minister over his brother-in-law. Although the alleged perpetrators in these events had little involvement in his diminished stature, Putnam concludes that "his own name and the honor of this family had been smirched by the village", which caused him to "right matters
The man was very wealthy and had feuds over his neighbor’s land. He helped to convince Abigail into accusing his neighbors of witchcraft. Thomas Putnam knew Abigail was lying and let over twenty people die in the end. The man was very corrupt and only lied to take vengeance, just like Abigail did. All Thomas Putnam wanted was his neighbor’s land, so he could get money.
Mason Cooley once said, “Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence”. By this he meant that people are willing to believe the most ludicrous utterances if it means they can benefit from it. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates the power of one motivated by lust and greed. Abigail Williams is the antagonist who becomes driven by her libido for the protagonist, John Proctor, and results to drastic measures, with severe consequences regarding the lives of innocent people, in order to win him over. As the side chick, she feels compelled to compete with John’s wife, Elizabeth, and do whatever it takes to rid of her.
The problem in The Crucible by Arthur Miller is that there’s witchcraft going on in Salem, Massachusetts 1692. The cause of the problem was by Abigail Williams, who started making lies and fearing a group of girls to makes lies with her. If the problem doesn’t get fixed then eventually everyone dies. “It is a lie, sir” (Miller 46). Since Abigail was lying there were innocent lives taken and got hung.
To begin, in Salem fight about land ownership. One example of greed is when Giles Corey states that Thomas Putnam of accusing his neighbors of witchcraft: “This man is killing his neighbors for their land!” (Miller 96) Thomas Putnam disputes land boundaries with John Proctor: “What anarchy is this? This tract is my bounds, it’s in my bounds, Mr. Proctor.”
As a French Proverb states, “greedy eaters dig their graves with their teeth”. People are consumed with wanting more and more rather than knowing what they need in life. The human race constantly carries on this pattern of greed. A theme of greed is shown in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
He feared if the truth got out that he would lose his status, his power, his strength. To escape this feeling, rather than face the truth, he lied and went along with the story that the girls were “possessed”. Now Reverend Parris feared embarrassment, awkward of ashamed feeling. But is does not compare to the fear of your life. This led to the “confessions” that were lies.
However, the need and want of individual freedoms drove people to go against each other. Theocracy was built on the idea that the unity of the Puritan community was based on the exclusion of anyone who did not conform to the community. The characters lie and tell the truth, but lying is what gets the community of Salem into trouble. The play begins with lies
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.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the setting is Salem, Massachusetts during the late 1600s where the town’s pious Puritan beliefs directly influence their government. A 17-year-old girl named Abigail Williams had an affair with John Proctor, a wealthy, married man. Abigail is told by John to move on but instead, Abigail starts accusing the townspeople of witchcraft, including John Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. As this hysteria begins to rise, other people such as Thomas Putnam, a rich landowner, start to also allege Salem villagers. In this play, the author illustrates the central idea that people should not allow jealousy to control their actions.
Like Abigail utterly told liars about how Elizabeth spirit had stabbed her at the dinner table but actually Abigail framed Goody Proctor with the doll Mary Warren had made as evidence to stable herself. Also Abigail accused Mary Warren for working with the devil in the setting of act three in the courtroom. The girls in courtroom acted as if Mary spirit was attacking them ,to scare her back to their side. Giles Corey also accused Thomas Putnam for being gluttonous for more land and therefore accusing his neighbors for it.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.
Abigail Williams is not your typical teenage girl. She is a girl that will drink blood to kill someone, accuse people of witchcraft, and have a affair. By looking at The Crucible, one can see that Abigail Williams develops the theme of reputation, which is important because people who fear losing their reputation spread hysteria. Protecting her reputation motivates Abigail Williams to accuse others of being a witch.
Who is Abigail Williams and what is this static of characters goal? The Crucible written by Arthur Miller is it about the witch trials. in the first and second at the girls are caught dancing in the forest and are accused of being witches and in the second act, The Witch Trials begin in the accusations start. Abigail Williams is a very static character who is motivated by her lust and jealousy causing the Witch Hunt with her smart lies and devious ways. this can be shown through various quotes found in The Crucible written by Arthur Miller.
A fart on Thomas Putnam, that is what I say to that!”(The Crucible, Act 3, Lines 190-193). This implies that Giles accused Thomas of being behind Ann Jr. accusing Jacobs. Moreover, this means that Giles’s accusation is right, proving the theory that the men of Salem are using hysteria to gain power. If Putnam is behind the accusation, he could potentially face consequences and all of his work would be for nothing. This connects to the claim because it shows how Thomas is doing any and everything to rise to power, even if it means putting people in jail.