“Long-held hatred of neighbors could now be openly expressed and vengeance taken, despite the Bible’s charitable injunctions” (Miller, pg 1129). This quote perfectly explains the Salem Witch Trials and what went through Abigail and the girls heads when they accused innocent people of bewitching them. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the small village of Salem and the mass hysteria that was caused by young girls. Innocent people were hung and thrown in jail because they accused these people of bewitching them. The judges, Abigail, Tituba, and the girls are to blame for the Salem Witch Trials because the girls lied and the judges only relied on what these girls said for their evidence but Hale, a minister, was obligated to believe the girls …show more content…
When Parris and Hale were first suspicious of the girls dancing for the devil Abigail repeated over and over again, “I didn’t see no devil” (1154). As the conversation went on, Abigail then blamed Tituba of making them dance around the the fire and drink blood. They go to Tituba to question her about everything Abigail is telling them and Tituba admits she sees the devil so that they do not hang her. Tituba is the first to say that Goody Good and Goody Osburn are witches. Abigail realizes that she has to play along with Tituba to stay out of trouble for drinking blood and dancing. Abigail interrupts Hale while he is telling Tituba that he will bless her and she will be fine, and says, “I want to open myself, I danced for the devil and saw Sarah Good, Goody Osburn and Bridget Bishop with the devil” (1156). Abigail and the girls begin shouting innocent women that they supposedly saw with the devil because they can then say they were bewitched and that is why they were drinking blood with Tituba. This shows that because of Abigail, Tituba and the girls lying, the Salem Witches Trials soon took over the
I saw goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”. She proceeded to go on and accuse more women of witchcraft. All in an effort to save herself from getting in trouble for dancing in the woods. As time went on, Abigail had to accuse more and more people to keep the blame from coming back to her.
Abigail had accused Tituba of witchcraft
Salem, Massachusetts declared itself as a religious community in while which evil was going on. Salem's people considered the forest the center of the Devil. Salem was surrounded by forest. The Crucible tells the story of three girls that danced in the center of the devil which in the long run causes a number of unfortunate events. Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator, made false accusations that more than 200 card carrying members of the Communist party had went against The United States Government.
Everyone has lied during their life for different reasons. A four-year-old will lie about the cookie they stole, or the haircut they obviously just gave themselves. A teenager will say they gave their best effort on their homework when they were really watching Netflix. Both people want to avoid trouble, yet the consequences of getting caught are not life threatening. However, there are periods in history during which people needed to lie to save their lives.
Later in the act, Hale interrogates her, asking her questions such as “have you enlisted these children for the Devil?”(43). Abigail joins in on the accusations, claiming that her “Barbados songs” tempted her. Everyone believes that Tituba is a witch because they trust a white girl’s accusations over that of a slave. Betty is accused of participating in witchcraft because she was also there in the woods, found sick. Due to association with Abigail and Tituba, she too is accused.
In reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, it seems unfathomable in today’s world of science and logical reasoning, that such mass hysteria could break out. While we don’t blame supernatural witches any longer for strange behaviors, there are still many cases in recent history that can be paralleled to the Salem witch trials. One example is a 2012 case of over a dozen high schoolers in Le Roy, New York who developed uncontrollable tics with no obvious cause. When I chose to read The New York Times article, “What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy,” by Susan Dominus, I thought the case would give a clear psychological explanation for the cause of the girls’ afflictions, and give insight into why girls in Salem acted the way they did. However, like
Arthur Miller wrote the play called The Crucible around 1953. Crucible is defined in 2 main ways: a vessel of metal or other material used for heating substances to high temperatures; any severe, difficult or searching test. Which one did he use for inspiration you might ask? Multiple pieces of evidence show that Miller wanted people to understand that he used both definitions. Salem was the vessel, the substances are the people, and the emotions and feelings of the people are what were heated to high temperatures and therefore changed.
In the Crucible, grudges and personal problems play a key role in creating the witch trial hysteria. The very first event in the play was spurred on by a grudge. Abigail, wanting to be with John, slips out into the woods with her friends and drinks a charm to kill his wife. After being nearly caught, she accuses Tituba of doing witchcraft to save herself. Tituba then accuses two other women to save herself as well.
I saw him. I wrote in his book… I saw Sarah Good with the Devil.” Tituba makes a fake confession. Abigail sees it as a way out of her predicament: if she confesses to being a witch, too, it would penalize her for performing spells in the woods with Tituba and her pals. Abigail drives a bogus confession of witchcraft.
In the 1600s Puritans from England came to North America to start a new life where they could have religious freedom and practice their faith as they saw was best. Many of them settled in small towns in Massachusetts in which they started families, businesses, and close communities. They had very strong beliefs and ideals of how a good Puritan was supposed to be for example: they had to attend church regularly, consistently read the bible, and never disrespect God’s name or commit disrespectful acts, that are considered sins. The Crucible takes place in the late 1600s in Salem, Massachusetts. Reverend Parris was the Minister of the Salem church and he had an active role in the community.
In Act I, the reverend of the town asked for Reverend Hale to go to the Parris household to find out why Abigail was “sick.” Soon after, he confirmed she was bewitched, being blind to the fact that Abigail was faking it all along. Hale also said that Betty was bewitched and began to question Tituba after Abigail accused her of doing witchcraft. To try to get Tituba to confess, he told her, “You’re God’s instrument put in our hands to discover the Devil’s agent among us” (Miller 594). Abigail wanted that kind of special attention too, which was part of the reason she started accusing others
When he first enters Salem it seems his head is held high with knowledge and determination, but he will not allow any conclusions to be made unless they are from his books that guide him through witchcraft cases. After Abigail reveals she did not see the devil, Hale immediately makes an accusation and suspiciously asks, “Why are you concealing? Have you sold yourself to Lucifer?” (Miller 1259). Because of Hale’s authority, Abigail becomes defensive and puts the blame on Tituba.
Out of fear, Abigail betrayed Tituba, Sarah Good, Goody Osburn, and Mary Warren. While in the court in Salem, Hale was questioning Abigail about what had happened in the woods the night before. Reverend Parris,
The Spread of Hysteria in Salem In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, multiple factors fueled the hysteria leading up to the Salem witch trials, such as Abigail’s deceiving plots, Reverend Hale not establishing the truth, and citizens’ mindless accusations. Abigail is the most guilty of causing outbreaks of panic starting with dancing in the woods with other girls, then moving to framing Mary Warren with a doll, and fake acting out seeing otherworldly entities. One example of Abigail’s manipulation is when she stabbed herself with a needle to frame Mary Warren: “Stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out” (176). Abigail also has a habit of accusing falsely and gets to girls to gang up during hearings, but everyone believes
Hence, they declare a witch hunt that only fuels the atmosphere of hysteria, in which prejudices and deep-seated grudges are running the show. Soon enough, alleged witches are found, convicted and hanged . Misfortunes of Tituba, a black slave of the Reverend Parris, began from seemingly harmless dances in the forest with the group of girls, which the local minister, Reverend Parris accidentally has spotted. Further, she is used by Abigail, who needs a scapegoat in order to look innocent and significant in eyes of the Reverend Parris and people of Salem. For this reason, Abigail tricked Tituba into performing the voodoo ceremony.