Ashton Franquiz AP Lang Eairheart 4th 31st october 2016 Hots Questions What made Miller use irony a a lot in his writing, did it help his cause and purpose of writing it? Miller’s use of irony in his writing helped him get his points across and give a sense of comic relief to the readers, in his example of Proctor reciting the Ten Commandments and forgetting the one about adultery gives a laugh for the audience seeing how he was unfaithful to his wife and had an affair with Abigail. 2.
To live or to die? Seems like an obvious question, right? When the weight of another factor clouds the seemingly no-brainer question is it really so obvious? Die for a lie or live with dishonor? It’s not anywhere as obvious now.
One question At the beginning of the story, some of the charaters were trying to be really demanding and prideful in their authority which caused the trials to be more horrific and lead on to more death. The pride that Elizabeth has is so much that she can’t forgive John, which shows in act 4: “It come to naught that I should forgive you, if you’ll not forgive yourself” (Miller 136). Elizabeth trys to help John through what he is going through, but he will not forgive himself through all the hurt that has gone through the village. When all that comes down the people try to tell the truth, but nobody has any strength, which hurts them by not speaking up. Another example, John shows pride for not turning in Abigail yet, because he knows that
A death sentence is not a typical punishment for an accusation with no evidence. However, Arthur Miller’s novel, The Crucible, is not a typical situation. In this novel there is a series of trials taking place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. These trials are debating cases of witchcraft, all of which are commenced by simple accusations with no physical evidence. The majority of defendants are accused by Abigail Williams and her group of friends.
Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible," is an amazing work that examines the pressure and moral conflict experienced by the characters in the Salem witch trials. The title itself alludes to the container used for heating substances, symbolizing the emotional and psychological turmoil experienced by the characters. The play exposes the dangers of groupthink and blindly following authority. The people of Salem were in a state of panic, as accusations of witchcraft spread rapidly throughout the community.
People tend to justify their actions, regardless of the outcome. With knowledge of their actions, people misemploy their authority. A remarkable playwright of the American theater, Arthur Miller continues to capture his audience with The Crucible. In the play, Miller portrays several characters, who abuses their authority. However, of the very few, Miller creates a character who makes an important contrast to these corrupt people.
Goodness and nobility is determined by an individual’s morality and their willingness to follow a virtuous path in their life. It is also determined by the ability of an individual to acknowledge their shortcomings and become more self-aware. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, John Proctor is a good man as he showcases righteous morals and principles. This is shown, as he ends his affair with Abigail, protects his wife and his friends’ wives, and dies to preserve his integrity and honour. First, John Proctor shows his goodness, by refusing the physical advances of Abigail, who wishes to continue their love affair.
Although, many people that were condemned weren’t actually apart of the Communist Party, (under McCarthyism around 1950-1954) they got blacklisted or lost their jobs. This social injustice is also portrayed in The Crucible as its characters face the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as his own reaction to the injustice of McCarthyism. Miller’s purpose was to show how people accused each other with false denunciations because of their fear, jealousy and solely hatred of one another under McCarthyism.
Arthur Miller used his storytelling to discretely show the US leadership that decisions made in fear were dangerous. Miller in his story had a quote about how “Until an hour before the Devil fell, God thought him beautiful in Heaven.” stating the the Americans may like how the situation is being dealt with but it will eventually cause terrible trouble. McCarthy was making decisions made in fear and it was hurting the US and in fact made it so that if Miller wrote his opinion without hiding it behind a story he too would have been punished and arrested. It can be assured that Miller would have just written his opinion in its raw form if McCarthyism wasn’t a factor.
During the McCarthyism era, Arthur Miller was a man of great integrity, and decided he would not fall to the ideals of Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism. Arthur stuck to his word and would not change it to get out of a courtroom. He had his own thoughts on why people were reacting as they were and he wasn’t afraid to say them. Steinbeck was defending Arthur in an article when he said, “If I agree, I have outraged one of our basic codes of conduct, and if I refuse, I am guilty of contempt of Congress, sentenced to prison and fined” (Steinbeck). There was no way for someone to prove themselves innocent in court without lying to everyone that was watching since the people would rather hear lies than have the truth brought forward.
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller the power of the towns government and religion are the backbone of the story, the case of the witch trials. In the book, the main character, Abigail, blames numerous girls for witchcraft. "I'll lead them in a psalm,but let you say nothing of witchcraft yet" (Miller 17). She does this out of spite due to jealousy over goody Proctor. In their town, based on their religion, witchcraft is serious, devilish ritual and forbidden.
Taking responsibility. Often times you will find yourself in an either difficult, or awkward situation where telling the truth is going to alter the conversation, and the person’s mood either for the better or worst, this leaves you thinking is being honest the right thing to do? This idea of being responsible for your actions is brought up countless times, both in real life and in fiction.
Reputation is the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. Reputation can directly correlate with pride, which is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one 's own achievements. Reputations are very important to the characters in The Crucible and if they want to preserve their reputation, through pride, they do whatever is necessary to keep it. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Judge Danforth all show dramatic actions to preserve their reputations, each of these characters either hurt themselves or others by being prideful and dishonest for the sake of their good name. There are several ways that Abigail Williams shows her objective of preserving her reputation in the book.
Arthur Miller constructs his play upon the famous Salem witch trails. Miller's Crucible was written in the early 1950s. Miller wrote his drama during the brief reign of the American senator Joseph McCarthy whose bitter criticized anti- communism sparkled the need for the United States to be a dramatic anti- communist society during the early tense years of the cold war. By orders from McCarthy himself, committees of the Congress commenced highly controversial investigations against communists in the U.S similar to the alleged Salem witches situation. Convict communists were ordered to confess their crime and name others to avoid the retribution.
Power is defined as “The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as as a faculty or quality.” Throughout history, women have significantly lacked not only power but the ability to be recognized as equal to their male counterparts. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, women are somewhat able to successfully gain power from society due to the fact that they use manipulation, deceit and their sexual desire (especially the character of Abigail) to acquire positions of power in their largely patriarchal society. Women are able to attain this power through using their intellect to express manipulation, and lying in order to receive attention that translates into power.
