Self Preservation In The Crucible

The play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, takes place in the town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. This time in Salem, witchcraft was suspected of almost everyone in the town. Preserving one’s reputation becomes recurring concept throughout the play. The witchcraft accusations are usually made by people that have a biased view against others, which is why everyone tries to make sure their reputation looks well with the rest of the town. This concept is proven through the characters of John Proctor, Reverend Parris and Reverend Hale. These three characters go to great lengths to protect what the town of Salem thinks of them.

Self-preservation is the act of protecting one’s self. It is often correlated with pain and fear and it is regarded as a basic human instinct. People often use self-preservation to protect their image and reputation in society, thus potentially having to lie and hurt someone else’s status in the process. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, many characters demonstrate self-preservation to avoid the consequences of their own actions. This results in prolonging the witch trials in the town of Salem, causing the destruction of the community.

Samuel Butler once said, “Self-preservation is the first law of nature.” This statement could not be more true because self preservation is the greatest human motivator as it grows in power as the world evolves, and establishes all basic humans needs and desires that other motivations lie within. Cynicism is often considered to be a form of skepticism (Cynicism=Self Preservation). However, the belief that all people are motivated by self interest is partially true. Humans are born with a natural desire to protect themselves, protect their image as seen by others, and make their life as fulfilling as possible and there are many examples to showcase it.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical play set in 1962 in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts. As you may know, you've all placed your trust in the words and actions of someone close to you. And what do they do? They betray you! It's rarely justified, and can happen to the best of us. Based on authentic records of witchcraft trials in the seventeenth-century this play explains how a small group of girls manage to create a massive panic in their town by spreading accusations of witchcraft. These rumors in turn are the causes that many citizens are hung for. This essay will show how the lies and betrayal of a few individuals eventually leads to the downfall of Salem and its society.

Abigail Williams only cares for the wellbeing of herself. In act 1 of the crucible Abigail lies about what happened in the woods. She threatens the other girls, if they told about what happened in the woods, she would “come to you in the black of some terrible night and will bring a pointy reckoning that will shudder you”. Which then leads to the other girls accusing others of witchcraft to take attention off of themselves. Abigail continues to act selfish by pursuing John Proctor even though he is married. Her accusing Elizabeth of stabbing her in the stomach was selfish, because she did it to get Elizabeth out of the way so she could have John to herself. In addition to all of her other selfish acts, she leads the

The witch hunts of Salem, Massachusetts, were propelled by the interests of individuals who unwittingly caused mass hysteria. The people accused of being witches falsely confessed due to promises of their life in exchange for their lies. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the characters John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and Mary Warren exemplify the theme of self-preservation being a key factor in the witch hunts through their actions.

By definition self preservation is the “..set of behaviors by means of which individuals attempt to preserve their own existence and the psychical processes that establish these behaviors..”. For The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, self preservation has been shown to have affected multiple characters, including John Proctor, Samuel Parris, and John Hale. In The Crucible, self preservation is seen to be the greatest motivation . John Proctor is one of the multiple characters being affected by this trend of self preservation being the motivation for the characters of The Crucible. John Proctor is seen to be accused of doing witchcraft and is being meant to sign a document saying he is guilty and concurs with the ruling of the court.

In the 1690’s based play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller portrays and displays the danger of assumed accusations, emphasizing the importance of a fair adversarial judicial system. During these times of religious governing, the puritan town of Salem accumulated a great deal of grudges, as it was the duty of God only to judge his people. This religion submerged town was unable to express nor confess it sins and confrontations, and as a direct result, each citizen was forced to bottle up their individual affairs, left to fester up inside of them, bound to boil until someday these emotions might burst, as the housing market one did, causing great chaos and downfall. The individuals of Salem finally saw their chance to out these emotions, inflicting their victims with vengeance, through the epidemic of witch crazed accusations brought to the town.

In The Crucible, Arthur Miller examines the topic of fear and how it is used to silence the “problem” and force others into false evidence. In this play, along with the real Salem Witch Trials, fear was a weapon used by people in power to control their “enemies”. The characters are completely ruled by fear and it was mainly caused by the tough punishments given to those who disobeyed puritan morals which causes the characters to quickly deny and accuse others of witchcraft to save themselves, creating unnecessary deaths of the innocent.

Arthur Miller truly does depict a fine summary of the true treacherous consequences of lying within his play The Crucible. Centered on the Salem Witch trials, a common theme emerges among some characters to betray others to save one’s own personal self, while others decide to retain their own dignity and moral compass. A select few characters even try to heal the damage and evil done to the townspeople and the court. Lust, fear, and cowardice drive the true evil force of betrayal, while logic, care, and forgiveness allow others to begin the process of moving on and helping other characters to also heal. No two characters represent each side better than those of Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Proctor.

One concept is capable of more destruction than almost anything else. It can change a person’s life, or end it. The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a play that is set in Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1690’s. The play revolves around the infamous Salem Witch Hunts and their proceedings both within the court and outside of the court. Within this plotline, a theme of greed functions in the play, influencing the actions of certain characters, including Reverend Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Abigail.

As we continue to read throughout the book, we notice the true colors of certain characters such as Abigail Williams. Abigail is a very intelligent, persuasive, malicious young woman. She is one of the main characters in the novel and is the main reason witch craft started in Salem. At first Abigail portrayed a young, innocent girl, but once you found out what she was doing with John Proctor, you started to think otherwise. She betrayed her own friends just to protect herself. She stole from her uncle; therefore she can escape from the entire catastrophe she had created. The first reason Abigail Williams is to blame for the deaths of those during the

In “The Crucible,” the author, Arthur Miller gives his audience a glimpse of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. A group of girls in the Salem Village, Massachusetts spread lies about how they were possessed by the devil to, and to keep their reputation accused numerous villagers of witchcraft. The belief of mythical, supernatural abilities created panic and chaos,leading individuals into having unethical, corrupt behaviors. By creating parallels, exposing humanity;s weaknesses, and demonstrating what hysteria is capable of, Miller is able to compose social commentary throughout his play.

In the 17th century a group of Puritans migrated from England to America - the land of dreams - to escape persecution for their religious beliefs. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is based on the real life witch hunts as well as his own experience with the anti-communist campaign in the United States during the 1950s. In the 1692 Salem, Massachusetts the superstition of the existence of witches existed and the inhabitants of the town were Puritans who followed the Bible in a very strictly. A small group of powerful people wrongly accused and killed many people out of their own fear, ignorance, jealousy, or vengeance is a main point in the play. An abundance of people in Salem believed or pretended to believe the show the girls put on from what they felt was the Devil’s work.The Salem witch hysteria would not have occurred if the people of the town did not follow the rules of their religion as severely as they did.

The Salem witch trials was a period in 1692 where several young girls claimed witchcraft, resulting in the death of many lives, and the destruction of many more. Arthur Miller’s recreation of this frenzy is presented in The Crucible, in which the lives of several real-life people were recreated to tell the story of the trials. The Crucible portrays how rapidly and dangerously hysteria can spread, and the lengths one may retreat to in order to reach what is thought to be best. Characters react to the situation in various different ways; some use it to their own advantage, some try to spare their own lives, and the bravest ones try to save the lives of their loved ones - no matter the cost.