People tend to believe what they want to believe. Whether the information is presented by celebrities or politicians or through paid advertisements on social media, it can be misinterpreted as true, even when it has been proven false. Misinformation causes people to make reckless decisions based on what they have heard or seen. False information has led to unfortunate events, such as the Salem Witch Trials and prejudice-based violence. False information connects events in both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and current society, shaping the opinions of the public and allowing authorities to stay in power despite false evidence against them. People have a way of seeing what they want to see, which plays a key role in creating the hysteria that …show more content…
In this sense, people are literally seeing what they want to see. Especially during times of high political tension, such as 2016’s election, chaos will ensue online. Scammers, hackers, and clickbait artists use this tactic as well. They use cookies to target users with ads or articles that will catch their attention and have the user download a virus or buy a product based on that ad. People see these articles or scams and believe what they are reading is true, similar to how Mary Warren reacted to the witchcraft scandal. Mary was told that there were witches and spirits, and she believed she was seeing spirits. Putting false information in front of a person is manipulative tactic used so people will react to it. Politicians do this with false statistics and events to provoke their voters as a distraction to pull their attention away from sticky situations. Abigail cries witchcraft on Tituba to keep herself out of trouble and this causes the girls and the whole town to believe that Satan is among them, even though the whole thing is just a ruse. False articles can shape the opinions of the public, creating racist and stereotypical views …show more content…
The authority of Salem is held under a theocracy, where their religion dictates how the government works. Abigail gains power over the town and the other girls which she uses to take down her enemies. It is not infrequent for journalists and politicians to fabricate stories in order to cater to their readers or keep themselves out of trouble, like Abigail did for herself. Hale uses his occupation and reputation to take over how the hysteria spreads. Gaslighting is an example of using misinformation to gain/maintain power over a person in a form of emotional abuse. The Harvey Weinstein tape features an example of abuse where the abuser has the victim question their memory and sanity instead of blaming the abuser. The victim in these tapes ended up apologizing. This is not unlike the relationship between Abigail and John Proctor, where the two of them essentially gaslight each other, knowing they both have the power to do so. Abigail tells Proctor that there is no witchcraft, but Proctor is hesitant to do anything about it as he would have to admit to an affair with Abigail. Abigail feels victimized by Proctor as his wife fired her and she has not been able to find another job. Denial of facts is also another way people use misinformation to maintain their power. If there is some kind of evidence
J. Blackledge 27 January 2023 CCR English III Block 4 In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, there is an abundance of dishonesty. In a time of deception, there are many characters blind to the truth. Some people were informed of the truth but denied it. One example of this is the judge of Salem.
Is it a coincidence that this movie is made at the time of the McCarthy trials? It would be highly unlikely that this is a coincidence as both affairs were very similar. They both involve trials based on superstitions, and charge people who has done nothing that would be harmful to their society. The movie portrays certain ingredients to be more influential than others. Although some argued that the witch trials were a result of hysteria, the accusations were caused by illusionary Puritan views, restrictive women's assigned roles, unhealthy class struggles, and imperialistic wars.
Rumors can change lives, but in the 1600s rumors not only change lives but ended lives. In the Play "The Crucible" written by Arthur Miller, the audience can see how rumors of witchcraft costed the lives of many unfortunate woman. The play is based in Salem, Massachusetts and the lower ranked women in the society were being sentenced to death because they were accused for practicing witchcraft. Throughout this play the author shows the audience ways people can start and spread rumors. Rumors could be started through mass hysteria, a hope of hiding evidence to , and through social and political retaliations.
(90). All of the proof Judge Danforth listed can be easily faked, like the choking, or is something that someone could do to themselves, like slashing themselves with daggers and sticking pins in themselves if they wanted to. Judge Danforth is so convinced that Abigail is telling the truth, that not even testimony from an ex-accuser stating the falsehood of the accusations would satisfy him. Mary Warren, who works at the Proctor home, was one of the girls found dancing in the woods and was one of the girls who was on Abigail’s side, was forced to testify against Abigail in court when she returned to the Proctor house one night, informing John Proctor that his wife, Elizabeth Proctor had been accused of witchcraft. Mary Warren said to Danforth that she and the other girls were faking everything and
Beneficial Lies A single lie has the power to destroy a whole reputation of integrity. Some are so profound in the art of lying that they even deceive themselves. Lying is an essential part of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, it is what causes all the hysteria in the town of Salem. When over half the town of Salem exhibit selfish characteristics, lying to themselves and others has become second nature.
In the play “The Crucible,” by Arthur Miller, the town of Salem is dealing with girls dealing with witchcraft and this caused a huge ruckus and basically destroys the town. We learned that the girls were just having fun, and were following Abigail’s lead. Abigail was the master of this plot, the one who started all of this, just over a crush and jealously over a John Proctor and his wife. To the prompt of this, why is Danforth, Harthorne and the other authorities such as Parris, so resistant on believing the claim that Abigail and the other girls are lying? From this paper we should realize why this is such a doing in the play.
Imagine losing everything: your job, family, and good name all because of someone accusing you of something that there is no sound evidence for. Now imagine people losing their lives for insubstantial reasons, and anyone who spoke out against these would lose everything themselves. Wouldn’t corruption reign from personal vengeance and create an aura of hysteria? Readers see this exact effect in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as well as in the historical event of The Lavender Scare, in both of which people were wrongfully castigated for unjustifiable accusations. The Crucible and The Lavender Scare were both similar and different.
The Crucible by Arthur Miller has many lessons to learn from. One of The major lesson I thought that is important is honesty. The accusations throughout the story were built on lies from those trying to protect their own name, and putting the town into confusion. Nobody in Salem, Massachusetts felt like they could trust anymore, after all of the false allegations made. If Three characters in the story would have been honest from the beginning, the town would not have been in such confusion.
A paradox is a statement that appears to be self-contradictory or obvious but may include a hidden truth. It is also used to illustrate an opinion or statement contrary to accepted traditional ideas. Authors often use paradoxes in their works to make them more interesting. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller presents the audience with a paradox, which he developed from the Salem witchcraft trials. In the small town of Salem, a theocracy was created for good purposes.
“Let either of you breathe a word, or the edge of a word, about the other things, and I will come to you in the black of some terrible night and I will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you,” (Act I, 160). She was the first person in the play to accuse a person of seeing people summon spirits of the Devil. This caused a massive, wide-scale witch hunt to take place; families torn apart, mothers, fathers, and even children murdered for what was considered to be the greater good. Now, others began to accuse people of witchcraft and people who had been lifelong friends to each other now had no choice other than to point fingers at each other or be put to death. Widespread panic and unreasonable action was sweeping through everyone in Salem, all because of a little lie by
Some people use lies to cover up or solve problems. Abigail feared being accused of witchcraft, so she accused others of witchcraft. She tried to use lies to solve her problems, but ended up creating a worse situation. Abigail’s lies had affected many of the characters.
In the story of The Crucible, John Proctor was afraid to admit his affair with Abigail because this is a big sin. If he admitted his affair with Abigail, the trouble and lies could be ended earlier. Another example in The Crucible regards the people of the court themselves. They were afraid to admit that they were wrong about there being witchcraft because people were afraid to die. When you make mistakes you should try to say the truth, don’t be afraid to tell the truth.
In a setting of Salem, Massachusetts 1692, religion is the direct reflection of one's social standing. Reputation is extremely important for the town, as it is your only way to get a fair hearing and respect from the people. The protectiveness of reputation is necessary in The Crucible to justify yourself when presented with fallacious arguments. In this play the importance of reputation is revealed though the uses of ethos, logos and pathos. The protectiveness of reputation is uncovered through various characters such as Reverend Hale, Reverend Parris, and John Proctor.
This starts a spree of lying and blaming which causes multiple innocent people to be hanged for being accused of witchcraft. One lie started a moment in history people today call crazy, unacceptable, and unrepeatable. “The Crucible” is a play that explains, through a crazy but remarkable story, why lying is a sin. In the present, lying could occur more frequently that truth is told.
One Choice Can Change Lives Who knew one seemingly innocent lie could cause 19 deaths and pit an entire town against itself? That’s exactly what happens in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Authors often use similar plot devices, and their favorite one is having their characters face a test. In a small town called Salem in early America, something terrible is happening.