Who Is The Hangings In The Crucible

During the time of the Salem Witch Trials, many things led to the hangings of females who were accused to have practiced witchcraft. The beliefs and values of the people in this time period led them to believe that witchcraft was real and that it was the devil’s work. Dubbed heresy by Pope Innocent VIII. (Salem Witch Trials History Channel Video) The punishment of such a thing was death, and so started the hangings. Those accused were mostly women, but some men were convicted and executed as well. The Church was the main factor as it was the Church that started the hunt for witches and carried out most of the “trials”. These trials weren’t really certified as to find out if someone was a witch or not and usually resulted in death either way. One trial was that non-witches would drown and witches would float on water. This Church-based society really pushed for people to be good under the eyes of God and so anything was would result in damnation in Hell for all eternity. This method of instilling fear into the people kept them submissive and manipulative. All these people would rather want to …show more content…
Miller had gone to Salem to research for his play. After finishing his play, Miller had returned to Salem for the first time in forty years where he talks about his reasons for writing The Crucible. “And what my play is really about and what I think Salem means, or what it should mean, is that here, some people refuse to compromise with the government and tell lies in order to save their lives.” (Arthur Miller, Witch City Documentary) What Miller is saying is that even now, the people will do what they well please just so that they could live, and so this could include calling someone a witch. The people really were selfish and wanted only salvation for themselves. Their beliefs of the Church being always right actually led them astray from the path of God, what they wanted so