The Crucible is a story filled with different feelings and emotions. It is about a town,
after accusations from a few girls, which begins a mad hunt for witches that do not exist.
The author Arthur Miller, brings out several themes throughout this dark and eerie tale.
Three themes; hypocrisy, revenge, and guilt are accentuated by Miller in the story.
In the beginning, some girls stir up frenzy throughout Salem by mysteriously
dancing naked in the forest. During the course of the story the girls begin accusing others
of bewitching them. Since the story is set in the 1600's in a Puritan town, the reader
should confer that these girls basically have no freedoms at all. They are not allowed to
laugh and have fun and do normal things little girls would do, so the girls are seeking
revenge on the adults of the town by plotting conspiracies and frauds that end up getting
out of hand. Abigail, who acts as one of the 'leaders' of the girls tells the other girls to
lie to the adults. For example, "No, he'll be coming up. Listen, now if they be
questioning us, tell them we danced, I told him as much already." (Miller 18) This is just
an example of how they girls are plotting against the adults to seek revenge. Most likely
the girls feel like their lifestyle is restricted and are angry at the adults so they search for
a way to get them back but in the end lives are lost.
A character in The Crucible, who helps express the theme of guilt would be John
Proctor. The main motive for the whole trial is fueled by the provocative relationship
Proctor had with Abigail. Proctor admits to having an affair with Abigail while being
married to his wife Elizabeth. Miller somewhat creates sympathy for Proctor even
though he has broken one of the ten commandments. Proctor shows guilt all over the
story which would create sympathy for him. For instance, Proctor confesses in an
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