The Crucible Essay: Nicholas Foreman
Imagine, you’re mother, sister, brother, father, being arrested and hauled to jail for absolutely nothing, and getting sentenced to death. Crazy, right? Well this was the harsh reality many people faced during the times of the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucible Is a historic fiction novel based on the events of these Trials. Not only was this a clash of innocent people fighting for their lives, but they were also fighting to show these accusers as liars.
One major theme in the book is the theme of “Love”. Love makes people do many things, that they could or could not regret.
ABIGAIL, with a bitter anger: Oh, I marvel how such a strong man may let such a sickly wife be—
PROCTOR, angered at himself as well: You'll speak nothin' of Elizabeth!
ABIGAIL: She is blackening my name in the village! She is telling lies about me! She is a cold, sniveling woman, and you bend to her!
This quote from the book highlights
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It is brought up often towards the end of the play, and you can see the struggle these people face to maintain their’s. During the course of Act 1, Parris is scared, because he thought people would think he’s allowing witchcraft to occur in town . During Act III, Danforth goes on to say, “ do you know that near to four hundred are in the jails from Marblehead to Lynn, and upon my signature?” Judge Danforth & Francis Nurse are talking about reputation, which Proctor values dearly. John Proctor attempts to maintain what little bit of his reputation he still has by saying “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” . One major fault of Proctor is his desperation to maintain a healthy reputation. He begged not to sign away his name to a lie, which meant the statement was
Shawn Jande Ms. Clancy American Literature B3 15 November 2015 The Crucible Analytical Essay Imagine, being accused of a crime you didn’t commit by your neighbors and friends out of jealousy, and desire. This is what many people in the town of Salem had to go through during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. People's motives such as: gaining and maintaining power, and aspirations for what other people had caused them to make irrational, and atrocious decisions. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, desire and power drive characters to create chaos in the community.
Proctor has a little issue with verbally saying that he is a witch because a verbal statement is between him and his God. But when Judge Danforth wants to post it on the church door, Proctor refuses to sign the document. The difference between verbally saying something as to putting it in writing is huge. By stating he is a witch, John Proctor feels that saying this lie verbally, he will view himself
Proctor is a well respected upperclassman and him sacrificing his life led to his family living a greater life. To the court with great emotion proctor states “ Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (143).
As Bob Marley once said, “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” Integrity is the quality of being honest and upholding one’s morals and principles. Living in a fast-paced and ever-changing society, human beings have come into contact with adversity and hardship all throughout history. Those who act with integrity during tough times have a major influence on those around them, and taking a stand and upholding ones’ beliefs and morals at great self sacrifice can inspire and encourage others to do the same. Arthur Miller’s 1953 play, The Crucible is a prime example of upholding integrity, and the characters within the play face difficult choices between doing
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.
Proctor says “ You are the high court, your word is good enough! tell them i confessed myself; say proctor broke his knees and wept like a woman, but my name cannot!”. In the quote John Proctor does not want written proof that he was a witch because he wants to protect his friends and not throw them under the bus. This means he cares for his friends and is truly a good man. Proctor says; “ let them that near dead now take their souls, it is pretence to me.”
In Act II, it states, “ Hale: why...why did you keep this? Proctor: I never knew until tonight that the world is gone daft with this nonsense.” This quote explains that Proctor knew the truth about the girls but didn’t go to the court to confront them. This is Proctor’s biggest mistake this decision results in tragic events that take place in the future of this play. These events include, the girls accusing some of the townspeople of witchcraft, and the hangings.
It Proctor values his reputation, albeit in a positive way (unlike characters such as Abigail) when he says"Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?
He gave his life for his family name making sure that the people who are going to kill know not to say anything bad about his name. Proctors option of getting hung over telling everyone, which was a act of honor. It was a act of honor because he decided to get hung over letting the whole town know, and see what he had to do to keep his name good and not bad. Proctor did do some bad things, and did try and blame things on people which they did not do because
Abigail Williams was the goody two shoes that kept her reputation high, until she turned on many with a single lie. In The Crucible By Arthur Miller, is set in the year of 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts where a witch outbreak has jailed many of the women from a fault of one girl named Abigail. It causes havoc in Salem that will lead to death in the village. Abigail has shown many transformations and showed that she is very dynamic from her emotions, to her actions, and to her experiences throughout the story of The Crucible. Abigail has shown that she has grown mentally and emotionally.
The Crucible “The Crucible” is a play, by Arthur Miller, about the Salem Witch Trials. After reading “The Crucible”, you will be asking yourself, is it necessary for a person to suffer? The answer to the question is shown through the characters, Giles Corey, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. John Proctor is a respected puritan man in the community. John had made the mistake of sleeping with, a teenage girl, Abigail Williams.
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name?
Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!
John Proctor’s words towards Elizabeth signal irritation and annoyance. John Proctor, the main character of The Crucible, has an affair with a much younger girl, Abigail Williams, breaking his wife, Elizabeth’s trust in him. Her suspicion of him rises when he tells her he was in a room alone with Abigail. Elizabeth’s growing mistrust begins to aggravate John, which is revealed when he says, “I’ll not have your suspicion any more” (489). Elizabeth is doubtful after learning about John’s affair with Abigail and her lack of trust in her husband begins to anger him.
Moreover, he would be justifying the existence of witches, which would further galvanize future spurious accusations. In addition, Proctor claimed, “I have three children - how may I teach them to walk like men in the world, and I sold my friends?” This quote insinuates that if he were to lie to his kids, they would not admire him as a role model and instead feel ashamed of him. Clearly, Proctor’s honor contributed to the ultimate decision of ripping up the signed