The Crucible
Finally I am now able to write freely without any fear of conviction, I wrote The Crucible, in the context of the historical Salem Witch Trials, which shows many innocent people being accused indiscriminately of crimes and sins they did not commit. Throughout history, society has been blinded to similar occurrences, or "witch hunts." I wrote The Crucible in response to one of those "witch hunts" that took place in my time period-McCarthyism. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950's and 1960's, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) and the "Red Scare." Though the play provides an approximate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues I had to deal with in my era. The underlying message throughout The Crucible was the conflict between duty and conscience I depicted myself through the protagonist John Proctor who was a strong highly principled man. John however through his moment of weakness with Abigail betrays both himself and his wife this is because he compromised his integrity by committing adultery with Abigail which consequently could have resulted in losing his good name in the
My characters like those in history speak the way they think, bluntly, directly and with little concern for fancy-phrasemaking. Honest and scrupulous, at least in his own mind, Danforth is convinced that he is doing right in rooting out witchcraft. There is a great parallel between the witch trials and the "Red Scare," both created frenzy among the public, involved people going against each other to prove their own innocence, and sought to hunt out those who rebelled against the dominant values of the time. town Abigail Williams shows how people are willing to abandon their firmly established values in order to conform to the majority and protect themselves just as was happening during the McCarthy era. During this time in the late 1600's, people were preoccupied by a fear of the devil, due to their severe Puritan belief system they were governed more or less under a theocratic style. It reminds us that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes. I begin each act by setting up a terrible possibility, and ends each act by bringing that terrible thing to pass this is for dramatic effected. Her domineering character allows her to easily manipulate the other girls, she is also quick witted and able to cunningly maneuver from one tactic to another for instance when she is confronted with Mary's confession she is able to think quick and make the other girls follow her lead Mary: "Abby, you mustn't" Abigail and all the girls: "Abby you mustn't. The puritans themselves were very outspoken one reason they traveled to the "New World" was because they couldn't keep quiet in the religious matters going on at the time many of them were of a lower class background. In fact, the character of Danforth is based on McCarthy himself. For example In Act I the question is: "Will the town leap to witchcraft?" The act ends with Tituba, Abigail, and Betty ecstatically "crying out witches. " Proctor is the flawed hero his one act of dishonesty was his indiscretion with Abigail Williams and then concealing his guilt of this play. I wrote about McCarthyism indirectly by using the parallel of the Salem witch hunts to protect myself at the time since I did not want to make it obvious. Within the Crucible nineteen innocent people are hanged on the signature of Deputy Governor Danforth, who has the authority to try, convict, and execute anyone he deems appropriate just like the members of HUAC destroyed and brought down many people suspected of communist activities.
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Acceptance Essays
