Girls who Cried Witch in The Crucible Essay - 761 Words

In â€Å"The Crucible†, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch. To start from the beginning, Abby, Tituba, and the girls were out in the forest one†¦show more content†¦Later that night, at dinner, Abby starts screaming saying that she has been stabbed. Abby says that it is Goody Proctor in spirit. They have a warrant for Goody Proctors arrest and go to the Proctor’s hou sehold. They search the Proctor’s house and find the poppet Mary made, after they Proctors have said they have no dolls in their household. Because of this scenario, Goody Proctor was thought to be a witch and sentenced to be hung unless she confesses. Several characters that accused others seemed to have other motifs than to cleanse the town of witchcraft. One, for instance, was Thomas Putnam. Putnam was a wealthy and greedy citizen of Salem. During the play, he accuses people of witchcraft to acquire more land. In the play, Giles Corey states that Putnam told his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft. If Jacobs were to hang, the only citizen in Salem wealthy enough to buy his land was Putnam. Giles reported this and when he would not name the man who told him, Danforth arrests him for contempt of court. They torture Giles by placing large stones on his chest, making it hard to breathe, until he confesses. The only words Giles spoke were â€Å"more weigh t†. There were many more accused witches in Salem. Although they were not the main characters in the play, they were a victim of the mass hysteria sweeping the town too. One of these people was Goody Nurse. Mrs. Putnam claimed that she was a witch because of the death ofShow MoreRelatedThe Crucible : The Potential Of Change916 Words   |  4 PagesJoie Lim Johnston English 11H, Period 7 8 October 2015 The Crucible: The Potential of Change Introduction: In The Crucible, Arthur Miller recreates the anxiety and hysteria of the Salem witch-trials from 1692. Although the title, not once is the word â€Å"crucible† spoken in the play. However, the people and events of the Salem witch trials correspond with the definition of a â€Å"crucible†. 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