ipl-logo

The Choices In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

1046 Words5 Pages

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. A small group of teenage puritans broke several rules and lied a seemingly innocent lie. That lie turns into a series of hearings where the defendant has two terrible choices. They can either lie and confess to witchcraft that they didn't commit, or hang. That one lie leads to 19 deaths. In Arthur Miller's The Crucible, many characters made crucial decisions that led to the disaster …show more content…

In the beginning, Mary and her friends danced in the woods, but they are caught by Reverend Parris, and afraid they will get in trouble, two of the girls pretend to be afflicted by a witch. The two seemingly afflicted girls send widespread chaos through the town, and the remaining girls have to figure out what to do to get the attention away from their dance in the woods. Mary is understandably terrified as she is a rule follower and has never broken a rule in her life. Mary knows that “the whole country's talkin witchcraft!” (Miller 1107). Mary desperately wants to tell the truth because she believes their punishment will be less severe if they are truthful. Because of this Abigail threatened her and the other girls, saying they will not tell the truth, so the girls decide to use the two afflicted girls to their advantage and claim witchcraft. Their claim of witchcraft leads to an entire mess of people being falsely accused. John Proctor knows that the girls are lying but doesn't do anything about it until his wife is arrested. Whereupon he forces Mary Warren to tell him the truth and say that she will tell the truth to the court to save all of the innocent people. John gets her to the court and and tells the court that his wife and all of the other people are innocent and leaves Mary Warren to tell the truth. Mary tries her best to tell the truth, she wants so badly to be free of sin,

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of How Abigail Is Blind To The Truth In The Crucible

    492 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary Warren was first with Abigail as an accuser which accuse many people of witchcraft. There are times to get shame if you lied like Mary,but others view as an advantage. Marry was part as an accuser with Abigail accusing people of witchcraft and was a maid of John Proctor. When Goody Proctor was accused of witchcraft which Mary give a doll to her which there was a needle stab in the chest making Abigail get stab as well. In the end,Proctor forced Mary to told the truth about Abigail’s pretending,but it was backfire and blamed Mary of witchcraft knowing she can’t win she lied and told that Proctor made

    Read More

  • Who Is To Blame In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

    742 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Crucible, there are times where everyone is nice to each other, but other times, people are going after others and trying to get them killed. The Salem witch trials were a huge problem because nobody knew who was the cause of this problem and many people were accused of it and hung. According to Penelope Curtis, “The Crucible is the only one in which a whole community is directly, and tragically, implicated.” The play is the only one in which everyone is tragically involved. There are three people to blame in The Crucible by Arthur

    Read More

  • Essay About Lies In The Crucible

    1489 Words  | 6 Pages

    During the Salem witch trials, 20 lives were taken, 27 people were convicted, while over 100 were imprisoned. Innocent people were falsely accused and some had to lie against their own will to protect others while a majority tried to protect themselves. The Crucible is about the Salem witch trials that resulted from the lies told by the people living in Salem. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller demonstrates that lies will oftentimes have consequences.

    Read More

  • Red Scare Vs The Crucible

    749 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cameron Oldfield Mrs. Brincks English III 15 November, 2015 The Crucible and Red Scare Imagine being thrown in jail, blamed for something that you didn't do .The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a story about how certain propaganda and false accusations can ruin lives, just like in the case of the Red Scare. Although 1692 the Salem witch trials and the Red Scare were over 200 years apart, The similarities are striking. both trials used intimidation, fear, hatred, and false accusations to ruin innocent lives. Both trials resulted in terrible outcomes, with both ending with innocent people being put to death and shunned from society.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Betrayal In The Crucible

    1882 Words  | 8 Pages

    Through the Salem witch trials, twenty-four innocent people lost their lives due to betrayal. They were hung because they were accused and found to be guilty of witchcraft. In reality, everyone that was accused and had died were innocent, but used as targets by others to save their own lives. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, out of fear, Abigail Williams, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, and Reverend Hale betrayed their morals to save themselves. As a result of betrayal, lives were taken, relationships were ruined, and trusts were broken.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Essay On The Crucible

    630 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Corruption Quotes In The Crucible

    1385 Words  | 6 Pages

    This disgusting behavior seen today is also seen in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is the story of a young Puritan woman in 1692 Massachusetts who made false witchcraft accusations in an attempt to save her life and to end a rival’s life. While her actions are horrific and the cause of numerous deaths, the actions of the adults around her that enabled her lies to cost lives are despicable. Through his dishonest characters, specifically Reverend Parris, Judge Danforth, and John Proctor, Miller exposes the evils of lying to save one’s name and the destruction that inevitably ensues.

    Read More

  • Mob Mentality In The Crucible

    751 Words  | 4 Pages

    Arthur Miller’s portrayal of a town in the midst of a downfall “The Crucible”, tells the story of how mob mentality and hysteria can significantly influence not only individuals but the whole town. This mob mentality leads to unthoughtful acts and false accusations. Two characters who demonstrate how mob mentality can lead to the demise of Salem are Abigail and Mary Warren. As Abigail begins to be accused she is pressured to deter from the truth. While Mary Warren gets pressured by Proctor to reveal the truth about Abigail, but the overwhelming pressure from the mob makes her turn from the truth.

    Read More

  • How Is Abigail Corrupt In The Crucible

    692 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society as a whole seeks to satisfy themselves. This may be at the expense of their peers or individuals they are associated with. Arthur Miller brilliantly displays this dark side of humanity’s side in his play The Crucible. This play is based on the Salem witch trials in the early 1690s. During the Salem witch trials over two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and twenty were executed.

    Read More

  • Who Is To Blame In The Crucible

    811 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a dramatic play that expresses a very important message and that is how far people would go to save themselves from the hands of death. There are many characters in the Crucible who are guilty of taking innocent lives, but there are three major characters who, without a doubt, are the most at blame. The play takes place in the city of Salem, a city filled with people that would do anything to keep their reputation clean. Throughout the play, Miller is introducing multiple characters that experience changes in their decisions and negatively influence more people eventually leading up to the witch trials. The main point that the story revolves around is that people would rather lie and blame someone else instead of confessing and accepting the punishment.

    Read More

  • Human Nature In The Crucible

    845 Words  | 4 Pages

    When push comes to shove, everyone makes a tough decision, but in the end the decision was either out of fear to protect themselves, or a strategy to gain a designated amount of authority. In today 's society, many of the decisions people make lead to riots in the streets and people getting hurt. Similarly, the Ferguson riot in Missouri years ago, where many civilians were injured because of decisions made by everyone involved. Whether it turned violent because they wanted to prove something or because they feared the police when they showed up. In the story, The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, the characters also illustrate the fact that it is human nature to defend oneself, to strive to survive despite the harm such actions can cause to

    Read More

  • Who Is To Blame For The Hysteria In The Crucible

    1608 Words  | 7 Pages

    This sparks rumors about witchcraft within the town of Salem, as everyone looks toward the girls involved in the forest incident for an answer. Abigail Williams, Parris’s niece and another girl who danced in the forest, begins to take

    Read More

  • Examples Of Mary Warren In The Crucible

    775 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mary hid in John’s shadow for most of the scene until John finally encouraged her to speak. Mary explained to Judge Danforth, Reverend Hale, Hathorne, and Parris that her and the girls had been faking everything. Judge Hathorne ordered Mary to faint like she had in the court when “spirits” had been flying around. If she could faint, it would prove that she had been lying about the witchcraft. Hathorne voices that “there are no spirits attacking you… let you turn yourself cold now, let you pretend you are attacked now, let you faint” (Miller 1203).

    Read More

  • The Role Of Lying In The Crucible

    444 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Taking Responsibility In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

    750 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Choices In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Open Document