The Crucible Title Essay

English proves to be a difficult language because numerous words have more than one meaning to them. Some of those include run, call, and even quail. The context of the story or sentence helps the audience figure out which meaning best fits that situation. A title such as The Crucible can give the reader an insight to what the play will be about. Miller gives The Crucible this title because of the parallelism with its meaning to what happens in the story. His title displays this from the characters who must face a trial, a town which must endure the immense heat, and Americans during the Red Scare. Throughout the play, the characters are put on to trial and tested, which is a direct definition of a crucible. With all the accusations flying …show more content…
Hysteria catches on like a common cold or flu and it spreads very rapidly. For example, Mary Warren discusses how she copied what the other girls did, "I--I heard the other girls screaming, and you, Your Honor, you seemed to believe them, and I--It were only sport in the beginning sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits, and I--I promise you, Mr. Danforth, I only thought I saw them but I did not." (Act 3) This hysteria resembles the heat that was placed on this community that made it melt. These people started to break down when the teens started telling lies and the townspeople believed everything they said. The people were against one another and blaming them because of the hatred they had deep down, heated by these hysterics. Many people were punished and hanged during this frenzy. “It were another sort that hanged till now. Rebecca Nurse is no Bridget that lived three year with Bishop before she married him. John Proctor is not Isaac Ward that drank his family to ruin.” Parris’s comment shows how they were hanging good people because of how chaotic the town was. The people were destroying their town and melting under the