Theme Of Betrayal In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The idea of Betrayal is one of key major points in the story, as Miller presents all the characters (even the citizens of red hook themselves) to place it as the biggest taboo that one should not cross. It can be as simple as snitching, or going back on one’s word on whoever he promised. Whatever one’s definition of betrayal is, everyone in our modern society, or even the old one, know that betrayal is one of the more heinous acts on earth. No one tolerates the idea of getting betrayed, but what does the writer do to present such ideas?

Well, in the first paragraph of the story, let alone the first pages of the story,
Alfieri remarks on the people of red hook, and how they don’t like the law, instead following their own code, their version of “justice”; this also includes betrayal. Alfieri also remarks on the distrust between them,” I …show more content…
This point is one of the more major parts of the theme of betrayal, as Miller makes most hit hard with this text, “the family has an uncle that they were hidin' in the house, and he snitched to the Immigration”, things went south for him, “They grabbed him in the kitchen and pulled him down the stairs”. Not only is the way Miller presenting the story unsettling, it is also downright brutal on the way he dealt with it, using words like “grabbed” and “pulled”, to show that Vinny has no control on this situation, and that his simple act of snitching caused him brutal injuries. And the kicker? “And they spit on him in the street.” The act of spitting a person shows disrespect from one side, but you whole family? Spitting on you? It is just plain humiliating. This entire paragraph show’s one simple thing, that the people of Red Hook Value Loyalty and Trust so much, that they induce the most painful and most sickening ways of torture ever known to man, and that they won’t tolerate anybody breaking