Sutton 1

Joy Sutton

Norton

English III Blended

10-24-16

The Crucible Literary Analysis Essay

Arthur Millers The Crucible is a historical fiction story set during the Salem witch trials.

In the town of Salem things take a negative turn as young girls are thrown into seemingly

random fits of convulsions. The townspeople suspect witchcraft as there does not seem to be a

medical cause for the hysteria; this is what brings about the witch trials as the inflicted young

girls accuse fellow citizens of sending curses over them. However, it is known by the reader that

the accusations are indeed false.

Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, and several other young ladies were caught dancing and

casting spells in the woods by Reverend Parris; this is a serious offense in the Puritan religion.

When Betty, Reverend Parris daughter, as well as the Putnams daughter fall into a mysterious

coma, Rev. Parris has the doctor search for a cause. Upon finding none, it is suspected that

someone has put a curse upon them. When Rev. Parris questions Abby, she cries witchcraft in a

desperate attempt to conceal their true intensions in the woods. Throughout the play, fear is a

prevalent theme that aides in escalating the situation; it is a driving force for most of the

characters. While some make few decisions off of it, others are completely consumed by their

fear and disregard all sense of reason.

In the story, Abby is arguably the cause of the trials in Salam. She is afraid of the

consequences of her actions and hides them with lies. She accuses Tituba, Rev. Parris Caribbean

slave, of forcing her to drink chicken blood which she in fact did willingly. She comes to me
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every night to go and drink blood! (Abigail; Act I). Rev. Parris comes down on Tituba and

threatens to beat her is she does not admit her guilt. When the threat of being hanged come into

play, she eventually confirms that she did work with the devil but not of free will. No, no, don't

hang Tituba! I tell him I don't desire to work for him, sir (Tituba; Act I). Although she is the

first to be accused, she was not the last as several more names were mentioned including Goody

Osburn and Sarah Good.

The girls that conspire with Abby, do so because they fear her. After accepting god

Abby has gained the reputation of a saint that could do no wrong; this gives her a certain

manipulative power over anyone who crosses her. She has acquired the unspoken title of the

girls leader. They look to her to get them through the rough patches of their deceit, and stay on

her side as to not be punished for what they have done. Mary Warren, the Proctors servant and

one of Abbys underlings, was demanded by John Proctor to expose Abbys lies after his wife

Elizabeth was accused. She refused as she was petrified of what Abby would do to her. This is

seen to have been a justified fear; Abby was prepared to betray her in a moments notice, this

causes Mary to return to her side and turn on John proctor. Abby cares more about supporting

her false story than even her loved ones. She has gained loyalty from this group of girls through

their fear of her.

In conclusion, this is a story of a towns fear and how it takes hold of most if not all the

residents. There are very few residents that see through this ruse and seek true justice. However,

this does not happen for quite some time. The more respected citizens are convinced that the

trials are effective, and thus they continue for a number of months. It appears that the more

respected the person, the more they let their fear control them. Reason and logic become hard to

come by as these series of events are fueled by an atmosphere of fear, mostly for each
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individuals own well-being. One of many things all these characters share is a distinct fear of

their reputations being tarnished. In this town it seems that without reputation, one has nothing

and is more susceptible to false blame and scorn.

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Works Cited

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Crucible The Supernatural Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop

University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Crucible Reverend John Hale Quotes." Shmoop.com.

Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.