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The Crucible Essay The story The Crucible takes place during the times of the
Salem witch trials in Massachusetts. This was a time of much hypocrisy in the
people of the town of Salem. Many people believed anything they heard or saw.
Although The Crucible is fictitious, the story depicts the historical
information of the Salem witch trials, and blends them with fictitious
characters with minds of their own to create a very realistic plot and conflict
in this story. This story has a few themes that are shown through the actions
and the thoughts of the characters. One theme that I felt had an impact on the
outcome of the story is Fear and suspicion can produce hysteria which results in
the destruction and breakdown of the people. The thesis of the story is shown by
people’s actions people can become suspicious of one thing and this leads to an
uprising in the town and the people. The story begins with the dancing of the
girls in the forest. When the girls are seen they become scared and run off.
This is what leads to the uprising in the town.
The Puritans are viewed as being
very religious they believe in God and everything he did for them. They believe
in an unconditional election in which God has no obligation to save anyone, no
matter how little the problem is. The Puritans use this during the witch trials
in which they hanged many people that were innocent of witchcraft. These
hangings happened because everyone believed everything the girls said and
showed. People in the crowd seemed awe struck by the girls and their ability to
view people as witches or not. These hangings produced hysteria in the
townspeople. In the story because of the dancing of the girls the priests of the
town, Hale and Parris believed that the girls called the devil upon their town.
Many people are accused of witch craft because of the girls. Puritans also
believe in The Supremacy of Divine Will in which god is absolute. When the girls
supposedly brought Satan upon their town the people got frightened and the only
way to get rid of the demons in the town is through several hangings. The girls
was the link between the people they could see Satan and the people that
followed his work. Through the stories the girls lied about what they saw this
should not have happened.
The girls took their fear out on the people of the
town and they did not even realize it. The thesis of this story has a large
impact on the people and the conflict of the story. The other side of my thesis
would have explained that if nobody in the town got suspicious or involved in
the witch trials there would not have been hysteria in the people. If this was
true there may have been many lives saved including John Proctor and Rebecca
Nurse. The other side of the thesis was not used because the opposite of the
thesis does not explain the way the outcome of the story was. If nobody got
involved in the trials the conflict/outcome would have been different. In
conclusion peoples actions and suspicions of one thing can lead to and uprising
in the town. Throughout the story the people turned to the girls to rely on who
was a witch. The girls were led by Abigail she stunned everyone with her
attitude and her ability to see the Devil. Because of what the girls said there
was a disturbance in the town. The Crucible is a great example of
fictional/history. It also shows that you can not always believe what you hear
because it may not be true.
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