How can a organization that praises itself on being respectable be responsible for the death of 20 innocent people (Blumberg)? The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The lives of the people living in this town revolve around the church. They blindly follow God as by not doing so would result in them going to Hell. The story begins with young Betty in bed unable to move, it is later revealed that a group of girls from the town were dancing in the forest, trying to conjure the spirits of one of the girl’s dead baby sisters. The idea of witch craft spreads hysteria throughout the town. The group of girls claim that the Devil stole their soul and begin to accuse people of being a witch. The situation unraveled
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For instance, when Mr. Nurse confronts Mr. Hale when he discovers that Goody Nurse, a well respected wise old woman, has been accused of witch craft. Mr. Hale responds claiming “The Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” (The Crucible 69). The panic that the idea of witch craft has brought to the village is causing people, even scientists such as Hale to act irrationally. Hale states that he is willing to follow any and every accusation given to him, which as we see later in the play, leads to many innocent people dying. The willingness to pursue each accusation results in a divide in society as previously trusted people are being considered to have committed of unspeakable …show more content…
As Hale is harassing Tituba to confess to witch craft, Abigail implicates “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear [Tituba] laughing in my sleep. I hear [Tituba] singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with—“(The Crucible 41). This shows how easy it is for anyone to accuse people of witch craft. The group of teenage girls use this power by wrongly accusing innocent people of crimes by simply claiming that they saw them in a dream. Because of the connections between the court and the church, illusions were considered acceptable as evidence even if there was no concrete
For instance, when Mr. Nurse confronts Mr. Hale when he discovers that Goody Nurse, a well respected wise old woman, has been accused of witch craft. Mr. Hale responds claiming “The Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points!” (The Crucible 69). The panic that the idea of witch craft has brought to the village is causing people, even scientists such as Hale to act irrationally. Hale states that he is willing to follow any and every accusation given to him, which as we see later in the play, leads to many innocent people dying. The willingness to pursue each accusation results in a divide in society as previously trusted people are being considered to have committed of unspeakable …show more content…
As Hale is harassing Tituba to confess to witch craft, Abigail implicates “Sometimes I wake and find myself standing in the open doorway and not a stitch on my body! I always hear [Tituba] laughing in my sleep. I hear [Tituba] singing her Barbados songs and tempting me with—“(The Crucible 41). This shows how easy it is for anyone to accuse people of witch craft. The group of teenage girls use this power by wrongly accusing innocent people of crimes by simply claiming that they saw them in a dream. Because of the connections between the court and the church, illusions were considered acceptable as evidence even if there was no concrete