How Does Miller convey his Message through 'The Crucible'?

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How Does Miller convey his Message through ‘The Crucible’?

In this essay, I will explore the message communicated through 'The Crucible’ to its audience, and the way in which its author, Arthur Miller, attempts to convey it, especially through one of the play’s main characters, John Proctor. The main issues raised by the play are the role of the individual within society, the value of one’s name and perceptions of justice and truth. I shall endeavour to expand on all of these topics and their relevance to the play.

Miller chose to write about a small settlement called Salem, in what was (at the time the play was set) the ‘New World’, North America. He had previously read a book entitled ‘The devil in Massachusetts’ by Marion Starkey, and took an interest in the subject. He soon discovered parallels between the problems faced by those who were accused of witchcraft all those years ago, and those having to answer charges of Communism or affiliation with Russia or her allies in any way, in his present day situation. As in the story, the American authorities had in their possession lists of names of people who had for instance, supposedly attended a meeting of communist sympathises (maybe even ten or twenty years previously). However they were still keen for witnesses to name names, in return for their freedom. Published in 1953, at the height of the McCarthy ‘Witch hunts’, 'The Crucible’, although concerned mainly with the witchcraft trials that had taken place in Salem in 1692, was actually aimed at the investigations made by the United States Congress in to subversive activities throughout the country. Miller himself appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956. He was convicted of contempt, but later the conviction was appealed and reversed.

Salem, in 1692, shows an enclosed community, more than a society. It was presided over by an all-powerful theocracy (that is, a joint Religious and Governmental power), that regulated everyday life within the Village. The first leaders of the settlement, when it was founded in 1626, devised the rules which would be the salvation and yet the downfall of the community. It was set up by a group of puritans, an extremely strict, orthodox sect of the Christian church, who were persecuted for their beliefs, back in England. The laws had two main purposes: to protect the community from outside threats and to safeguard the religious nature of the settlement. Native Indians who had hitherto occupied North America uninhibited regarded Western settlers as a threat and there were great many battles between the two parties, over land and resources. This however only commenced in a large scale, as did the colonisation of the New World towards the end of the18th century. ‘Salemites’ were therefore encouraged to be efficient in their day to day tasks and prepared for any invading threats. These instructions placed a large amount of pressure on inhabitants to conform to their society.

The rules imposed upon the peoples of Salem were there to maintain an effective organisation, however due to their rigid imposition, also conceived a fear and mistrust of change; the unknown and the different. Anything that fell under these categories was heavily frowned upon, and thoroughly discouraged. This suspicion of the unknown fermented, and became almost mystical – which in turn lead to an association with witchcraft, and all kinds of evil. Association with the devil was easy to argue – it was wrong – and thus harsh punishments followed. As Mr Parris, Salem’s minister, puts it, ‘I have often wondered if the devil be in it somewhere; I cannot understand you people otherwise.’

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The story begins as two teenage girls are behaving extremely oddly – they seem dazed, between waking and sleeping. As this medical phenomenon had no apparent rational, scientific explanation at that time, many looked to the devil for clarification. The children were probably acting in a way that we would now describe as ‘psychosomatic’, a behavioural disorder with apparently inexplicable symptoms, a result of a traumatic experience. The girls admitted their amateur dabbling, however in court, they were seized by hysteria as they uncovered their new found powers.  They named (perfectly innocent) people who they had ‘seen’ with the ...

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