The Crucible Rhetorical Analysis

Reputation is what one is perceived as or what they are associated with. Reputation is everything in a small town. In Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, this is especially true in the meager town of Salem where social standing is tied to one’s ability to follow religious rules. Having a good name is how you do business with others or get a fair hearing. Miller addresses the theme of reputation in The Crucible through Parris, Proctor and Abigail’s actions showing how far one will go to keep their reputation untarnished.

In this excerpt of a lecture given by Maria W. Stewart in the year 1832, she has a strong point: Although the African Americans in the northern colonies were free, they were not treated equal as the white people were. Stewart uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to bring her point in the situation, such as argument, compare and contrast, and appeal to ethos. Along with the persistent and serious tone, it is clear that she sees the unfair treatment of African Americans a major problem.

Abigail’s self centered mentality is the reason why she uses fallacies to assert her dominance over others. For example, Abigail uses the Argument ad Baculum fallacy to force Mercy and Mary into submission. Before the usage of the fallacy, Abigail was pestering the girls to have the same story of the night before so she would not get into trouble for doing witchcraft. Suddenly, Betty regains consciousness and shouts about how Abigail was practicing witchcraft. Instead of Abigail finding a way to distress the situation, she violently attacks Betty. Then Abigail threatens all of the girls that if they confess to anyone, she will “bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”. Even though Abigail’s threat did work, it only worsen her situation.

During the late 17th century a total of 200 people were accused of participating in witchcraft, while 19 people lost their lives to the mass hysteria. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of girls start a huge uproar in Salem, Massachusetts when they start screeching about Salemites being associated with the Devil. Throughout the play write, it shows the consequences of mass hysteria and how it puts people's lives in danger. Abigail Williams causes a wave of mass hysteria and because of her trickery, innocent people have died by her and the other girl’s actions, for this Abigail is the most unforgivable character in The Crucible.

Fear that spread among a group of people in Salem during the Salem Witch Trials, that event in history is a prime example of Mass Hysteria. In Salem the reason why so many women were killed was because of Mass Hysteria. It caused many people, in Salem during this event to think fast, rash and jump to conclusions. “The Crucible”, a short play dedicated to these events in Salem shows us how hysteria was such a leading cause of why the Witch Trials had even occurred. Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth. These three characters can be the most to blame for the cause of the spread and start of hysteria in Salem during the Witch Trials. The cause of the hysteria was caused by Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams and Judge Danforth.

In one's journey to power, individuals manipulate people and situations for political advantage. This view is reflected in Arthur Miller's 1953 play, 'The Crucible', an historical play based on events of the Salem witchcraft trials, that took place in a Puritan society in Massachusetts in 1692. Similarly, Kevin Rudd's 2008 speech, apologising to the indigenous Australia communities for past government policies, stemmed from a need to right past wrongs. Both texts explore how individuals and groups often manipulate political situations to serve their own ends and coerce others.

People lie for many reasons. Sometimes it’s to themselves, sometimes it’s to others. No matter who they are lying to, it always affects others around you. In the story The Crucible by Arthur Miller, lying is a very common theme. Many characters lie, which include John Proctor, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris, and many others. All these characters have what they feel, is a logical reason for lying, but the question why do people lie to others and themselves, is something to ponder while reading the play. People lie to themselves to make them feel better about their own lives and people lie to others to cover up something they may be ashamed of.

In the book Crucible written by Arthur Miller took place in 1692. Some may believe that Reverend Hale is not to blame for all the deaths of innocent people in Salem.The only reason Reverend Hale is involved in this case, is because he is pushing his limits to get the truth. Also, to not let any guilty doers off the chain, for the reason that they will keep repeating their dirty crimes. There has been many witch trials taken place in salem, of which many people have been accused and persecuted.

In The Crucible, John Proctor the protagonist, becomes a victim of the witch trials when his wife Elizabeth, is accused of witchcraft. In order to free his wife, Proctor must convince Judge Danforth of his wife’s innocence. Judge Danforth does not sign condemnations lightly and takes meticulous inspection of his cases to determine the guilty party. He is also a highly religious man who takes matters between God and men seriously. It is because of Danforth’s dedication to the law and God that Proctor utilizes ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade him. Ultimately, Proctor uses ethos, logos, and pathos to convince Danforth to free his wife, but is unsuccessful.

Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth. Thus demonstrating how mob mentality can impact an individual and ultimately drive the action of the play. This shows us how one person who starts

In March of 1997, thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult willingly committed a calm and ritualistic suicide in a hilltop mansion over a three day period that involved three groups of people. Applewhite and his followers believed that the Hale-Bopp comet was hiding an alien spacecraft and that they needed to board it in order to avoid the coming doomsday of the Earth. When this comet reached its closest distance to Earth, they drank a lethal mix of phenobarbital and vodka and laid down to die in hopes to leave their “bodily containers” to enter into the spacecraft safely. Once on the spacecraft, Applewhite and his members believed they would pass through Heaven’s Gate into a higher existence. Heaven’s Gate strongly represents and displays that the thirty-nine group members in this suicide were victims of charismatic leadership and deindividuation.

Throughout the ages, people repeatedly use witch hunts as a method for dealing with issues that are widespread. A witch hunt is surprisingly efficient in dealing with all offenders because once the movement gains momentum, people are accused left and right for many reasons, such as protecting themselves or bringing down others. This goes so far that even once all criminals are dealt with, the crusade goes on to accuse innocent bystanders. It is particularly easy to convict innocent people in a witch hunt because when the accusations are for invisible crimes, there is no way for the defendant to prove himself innocent, leaving the accuser in a place of greater power.

Leadership through fear has been shown in many historical leaders. Someone who led through fear is Adolf Hitler. Hitler demonstrates this leadership style when he pinned the blame on the Jews and lead the Nazi party causing many innocent Jews to die. This is similar to Arthur Miller’s novel The Crucible because in the novel, Abigail Williams leads through intimidation and bullying. Miller argues that leadership through fear is the most effective leadership style, although it has some negatives.

A courtroom full of innocent people waiting to discover if they will be put to death. Everyone is tense and many are frightened. Who was the cause of all of this? In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Abigail and her friends were caught dancing in the woods. The girls had to act fast in order to save themselves from getting into trouble because, in their community, their actions were considered sinful and immoral. In the desperate act of self-preservation, Abigail began to accuse others of being witches. Abigail Williams is anything but a good person. Although she tries to make everyone believe she is virtuous, she portrays many characteristics of being the complete opposite. Abigail is deceptive/mendacious, conniving, and manipulative.

Imagine losing everything: your job, family, and good name all because of someone accusing you of something that there is no sound evidence for. Now imagine people losing their lives for insubstantial reasons, and anyone who spoke out against these would lose everything themselves. Wouldn’t corruption reign from personal vengeance and create an aura of hysteria? Readers see this exact effect in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as well as in the historical event of The Lavender Scare, in both of which people were wrongfully castigated for unjustifiable accusations. The Crucible and The Lavender Scare were both similar and different.