Examples Of Injustice In The Crucible

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a story about the tragedies that occur in Salem. This tragedy was caused by mass hysteria that spread through people like wildfire. With people not having the ability to determine right or wrong and most people still following leaders like sheep, there wasn’t a chance to stop this event. This also reflects how false information can be spread across the world with all the technology we have today.

Firstly, throughout the play Judge Danforth acts with pride and arrogance. At the commencement of act III Judge Danforth voices his view on the ongoing phase of the witchcraft trials by stating that “Do you take it upon yourself to determine what this court shall believe and what it shall set aside?” (Miller 85). Here Danforth

The Theme of Justice in The Crucible The crucible was set in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts. The play is based on true facts about events that actually took place. It is about a small secluded town that relies strongly on their religion to keep them feeling safe. Their enemy is the devil and they are always scared of the devil and constantly looking for signs that the devil is there.

People have many different views of what justice is and how it should be handled. Because of human nature many times attempted justice becomes injustice. In the play The Crucible, Arthur Miller explores the themes of injustice through an incorrect accusation of witchcraft in the Puritan town of Salem in 1692 and in the famous speech A Plea for Mercy delivered on September 24, 1924 by Clarence Darrow, Darrow pleas for mercy of two boys who are guilty of a heinous crime. Although both have very different circumstances, they both are opposing an oppressive regime because in both works they are fighting against unnecessary bloodshed and how following other people’s example is not necessarily a good thing.

Superman once said, “There’s a right and a wrong in the universe and that distinction is not hard to make” (Superman, Kingdom Come). Justice, being pivotal in society often fails to meet its purpose. In an idealistic world, justice has been portrayed as a divine fairness, where the nefarious have been punished and the ethical live a moral life. Pragmatically speaking, justice has constantly been played into the hands of power, suborn and greed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, forcing vulnerable humans to drive to consequential lengths to meet their aspirations. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, comments on the biased view of justice in Salem and how the court models the role of justice as guilty until proved innocent, similar to the case of Giles Corey, which is barbaric.

Through his illustration of Deputy Governor Danforth as a stubborn figure who remains convinced of the accused’s guilt, Miller shows the cause of why following the rules does not always suffice. Although titled “Governor”, Danforth heads the witch trials of Salem. Readers initially witness his nature when the townsfolk refer to him when they explain why the suspected witches confessed to their sins, remarking, “The Deputy Governor promise hangin’ if they’ll not confess”(58). If the women declare

Wayne Dyer, a wise doctor who once said, “The ultimate ignorance is the rejection of something you know nothing about but refuse to investigate.” Ignorance can be defined as an uninformed or uneducated condition. How could one reject something they know nothing about without even acquiring information on the matter? Ignorance is clearly shown in Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, regarding the judges of the Salem Witch Trials. Inspired by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s, The Crucible focuses on the Salem witch trials and the hidden agendas of those involved as well as the lack of accountability of those who were truly responsible. The play takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, in a unforgiving colony. The mass hysteria of the town begins with girls in the forest appearing to be practicing witchcraft. This begins a controversy that has detrimental consequences. Judge Danforth is most responsible for the mass hysteria in Salem because he neglected any thoughts of justice and replaced them with only thoughts of ignorance and power.

Imagine the wicked House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) arrest an innocent man. The HUAC does not arrest the man because he has committed a murder, but because he is a communist. Many communists became victims of HUAC in the Red Scare crisis of the 1950s. These communists made the right decision to speak out for their freedom and against injustice. These communists also spoke out for their freedom of different beliefs. Speaking out for freedom and against injustice is also present in Shirley Jackson's short story The Lottery, Arthur Miller's tragic play The Crucible, and Elia Kazan's fictional movie On the Waterfront. Ultimately, these texts illustrate that injustice, the desire for freedom, and the threat to one's rights makes it appropriate for a person to speak out in times of crisis.

In Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, Arthur intrigues audience time and time again with the historical context, social implications, and the Salem, Massachusetts Witchcraft Trials of 1962. Most members in Salem feel the need to prove their authority in ways such as accusing those who have done nothing or hanging them without proving their innocence first. The thing is authority is not made up by an authority figure, but by society. Miller’s The Crucible, demonstrates how people misuse their authority for cruel purposes through a fascinating plot, well-crafted characters, and well-set theme. During the hysteria of witchcraft trials in Salem, there were multiple figures of authority or per say the community who abused their power, Reverend Hale, Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris and Judge Danforth.

Has guilt ever caused you to change your perspective on how you are as a person? In “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller the audience is introduced to a character by the name of John Proctor who is a fellow citizen of Salem. Throughout the play John Proctor struggles to deal with his guilt about his affair, but he realizes he's still a good man, reminding the reader that one sin doesn't determine one’s fate.

“I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you.” The Crucible is written around the theme of sin and guilt. The girls dancing naked in the forest, the affair of John and Abigail, and John refusing to sign the agreement about the affair to be hung up on the church doors are all examples of sin and guilt.

“Individuals can resist injustice but only a community can do justice” (James J. Corbett). In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, injustice takes over the population leaving it almost impossible for one individual to fix the broken society. The Crucible takes place in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, where hysteria has taken over everyone and everything. Abigail Williams, a young teenage girl stirs up trouble when she has an affair with John Proctor; a well-known beloved man who is married to Elizabeth Proctor. Her immature and reckless actions along with John’s guilt leads to the false accusations of witchcraft leaving innocent people left to hang and go on trial. Thomas Putnam, a well-known greedy man in town, Reverend Paris, the prime minister of Salem, and Danforth, the head of the court only seek well acknowledged reputations and power therefore, they keep pushing these actions further and further only making the scenario worse. Fear rushes out of everyone as it was mandatory to lie and confess for actions that never occurred or hold denial against those actions and be sentenced to hang. An unfair court system along with townspeople’s careless actions and accusations leads the town of Salem to fall apart. Ultimately, justice is not served in Salem because love, fear, and power motivate the characters.

In these quotes, you can see that Danforth starts the court because Giles didn’t give a name of the man who gave him evidence. This relates to my thesis because Danforth is corrupt from power at this point in the play, which causes him to make this decision only because he believes that he is right and Giles is wrong. In Act three, Danforth also interrupts Rev. Hale so many times that he causes him to quit the court. Danforth is only one of the main characters that is corrupted by power in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Guilt motivates the behaviors of characters. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a group of young girls lie of being afflicted by witchcraft. They start to accuse people in the town leading to many innocent hangings which cause some characters internal and external conflicts. In the play guilt is a ubiquitous force that haunts the characters in the play. Reverend Hale, Mary Warren, Giles Corey, and John Proctor feel guilt and it motivates some of their behaviors.

Many societies have a different outlook on what justice is and looks like in a society. A society with justice is a society that balance morality and discipline. Injustice in a society forces people to take the law in their own hands, which can cause problems within the society. Fear is what compels people to take things in their own hands when they feel there is no justice. Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible” demonstrates a society who struggles to keep their sense of justice due to the control of fear.