Betrayal is the Result of Fear and Low Morals of Characters Caused by Witchcraft Trials - Book Report/Review Example

Betrayal is the Result of Fear and Low Morals of Characters Caused by Witchcraft Trials Outline. In “The Crucible” the theme of betrayal does not clearly defined, but it represents with the help of low morals, lie and fear. It is difficult for Salem citizens to escape the danger of lie and betrayal overwhelmed by fear to be hanged. The tough and lasting thread on which faith is strung has three strands:  reason, freedom and tolerance. It stands to reason that fear applied to moral leads to individual degradation. Tolerance protects that diversity and demands respect. Some citizens were cunning enough to use witchcraft trials and charge to gain personal interests. Introduction. In his play Miller raises an important issue which does not often discussed in the literature. It is important to note that betrayal is not the common feature of human’s personality, so Miller identify the causes and events that push friends or neighbors to betray each other, especially if their actions will cause the death of another person. Miller identifies and vividly portrays the inner nature and morals of people involved in the trials which heated human’s envy and baseness. The paper seeks to answer the question: What causes, inner motives and events drive citizens of Salem to betray their close friends? Thesis. Betrayal caused the death for many innocent people because of fear, dishonor, falsehood, and low moral values. The population of Salem was not strong enough to resist the feeling of fear and protect themselves. Instead, the absence of friendship and universal virtues were closely connected with witchcraft trials and fear of people to be accused and hanged. Discussion. In the play Miller describes the witchcraft trials which were often during the Middle ages period. Betty Parris, the daughter of the Salem minister, was ill and, her father thought that the illness was caused by witchcraft. In the 17th century, witchcraft was the most serious accusation. If a person was found guilty he or she was hanged. In the play a lot of innocent people were accused because of their friends slander. On the one hand, betrayal was used as the tool to do away with the enemies. People in Salem had no chance to save their lives, because their inner strength had been subdued by fear to be hanged. Body. 1. Fear of death is the major driven force for betrayal in the “Crucible”. 1.1.When fear starts to dominate people act in their own interests, they degrade as the keepers of customs and morality. It remains disappointing that the social issues that are generally identified as pertaining to religion deal with questions of individual choice, rather than of communal responsibility. “This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (Miller, 94). It means that nothing is sacred: neither friendship nor family relations. When one persons actions begin to affect another person, we have moved from personal ethics to social ethics and often have to place some limits on human behavior. 1.2.The citizens of Salem thought that is they accused their friends they could save their lives, but they failed before the inquisition. Miller pointed out in the “Crucible” “You must understand, sir, …we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (Miller, 67). When Tituba felt danger she accused Goody Good and Goody Osborne of witchcraft to save her own life. The main slogan of Salem said that it was better to hung ten suspected witches than one innocent person would suffer. But, this slogan shows the cruel attitude towards people ever happened. 1.3. The witchcraft trials cause the situation of constant fear. It is possible to predict If the fear and a lust for personal benefit did not dominate the real nature of the Salem citizens would never come to light. Reverend Hale said: “Let you (Elizabeth) not mistake your duty as I mistook my own.  I came into this village like a bridegroom to his beloved, bearing gifts of high religion (Miller, 132). 2. Betrayal, as a result of witchcraft trials, was used as an effective tool to take revenge upon enemies. 2.1. The play tells that Giles Corey charges Putnam with murder. Giles tells that someone told him that he heard Putnam claiming that he prompted his daughter to accuse George Jacobs of witchcraft so that he could buy his land after Jacobs is executed (Miller, 56). Thomas Putnam uses this for economic gain. Evidence presented in the court was falsehood, but the court accepts them as truth. A great many citizens of Salem have been left with, especially those who have not had political influence. "Ill tell you whats walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller, 45). 2.2 In the play Parris demands that all citizens of Salem obey to the church and to him: “There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning!” (Miller, 30). The church was the institution dictated moral norms, but these norms were low and call people to obey the church rules rather than common sense. It was said "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between." (Miller, 87). Miller shows that a simple accusation for a person is enough to be admitted of guilt, even if this guile cannot be proved. 3. The main problem caused betrayal was that people had no choice: they had to betray their friends in order to save their lives. 3.1.The betrayal theme deals with self-preservation of people. For instance, Hale suggests that God damns a liar less than a person who throws ones life away, but Elizabeth suggests that this is the devils argument. “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller, 23). It means that a person could easily lie in order to avoid punishment even if it is resulted in the death of other people. 3.2. If Elizabeth admits to firing Abigail for her affair, Danforth will charge Abigail with murder. Elizabeth, thinking that she is defending her husband, only claims that she fired Abigail because of poor work habits. Proctor asks Elizabeth do not lie, but Hale supposes that Elizabeths lie is a natural one to tell. "You will not judge me more, Elizabeth. I have good reason to think before I charge fraud on Abigail, and I will think on it. Let you look to your own improvement before you go to judge your husband anymore" (Miller, 52). 3.3.When one persons actions begin to affect another person, we have moved from personal ethics to social ethics and often have to place some limits on human behavior. In the play Parris is depicted as dull-witted person. He and Hale accused a lot of people in witchcraft, and then became terrified of being accused by those people. They became the victims of their own unmoral behavior. Parris was well aware that the trials are a fraud, but does nothing to help. Miller wrote in the play "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more." (Miller, 27). It is possible to conclude that betrayal unites people to protect themselves, even if they ruin the lives of others. For instance, in the play when errors in judgment were admitted Parris decided not to unveil the truth and saved his life. The same situation occurred with the Governor of Salem who shifted the blame to the next Governor of Massachusetts. The facts mentioned above prove the idea that only in difficult situations people show their real nature. To conclude it is possible to say that low morals heated by fear are two very powerful drivers forcing people to forget about internal values like friendship and honour. In the play Miller rings up questions concerning moral health of the society in Salem. He represents different historical epoch but the issues arisen in the play are of great importance today. Understanding the play in its historical context allows readers to look deeply into the roots of the problems discussed in it, and understand peculiarities of the author interpretation. Throughout the play there is a definite blame unmoral behaviour of the people but it is most poignantly and symbolically demonstrated with the rejection of “friends”. References 1. Miller, A. The Crucible. Penguin Books, 2003. Draft 1 “The Crucible” was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller. It depicts the trials which caused the death for many citizens because of dishonor, falsehood, and absence of strong power. Bureaucratic system. Failed to protect these people from authority. Quotes from the book: - Abigail: “I cannot sleep for dreamin’; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I’d find you comin’ through some door” (Miller, 23). - "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more." (Miller, 27). - Paris: “There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning! (Miller, 30) "Ill tell you whats walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem. We are what we always were in Salem, but now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom, and common vengeance writes the law!” (Miller, 45). - “You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (Miller, 67). - "A person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between." (Miller, 87). -“This is a sharp time, now, a precise time—we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not light will surely praise it” (Miller, 94). From history we know that in the 17th century, witchcraft was the most serious charge. If a man or woman was found guilty he or she was hanged. The same situation is depicted in the play: a lot of innocent people were accused. Witchcraft trials were used as the tool to do away with the enemies, like Elizabeth was accused by Abigail for stabbing with a needle through a doll. When Tituba felt danger she accused Goody Good and Goody Osborne of witchcraft to save her own life. Thus, in the area of personal ethics, people are free to think and believe anything they want. People are free to practice a high ethical valus in their personal life. To use a common phrase, people are free to do their own thing. But that doesnt imply total ethical anarchy: “There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning!” (Miller, 30). Hale suggests that God damns a liar less than a person who throws ones life away, but Elizabeth suggests that this is the devils argument It means that the betrayal theme deals with self-preservation of people. “The Crucible” made attempts to stop witch-hunting. It was supposed that it was better to hung ten suspected witches than one innocent person would suffer. "There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!" (Miller, 26).. But, this slogan shows the most cruel attitude towards people ever happened. The same slogan was used by Stalin and Hitler during their age. Draft 2 The population of Salem was not strong enough to resist the feeling of fear and protect themselves. Instead, the absence of friendship and universal virtues were closely connected with witchcraft trials and fear of people to be accused. Betrayal caused the death for many innocent people because of dishonor, falsehood, and low morals. The tough and lasting thread on which faith is strung has three strands:  reason, freedom and tolerance. It stands to reason that motive applied to moral leads to individual evolution. Tolerance protects that diversity and demands respect. In the play Parris demands that all citizens of Salem obey to the church and to him: “There is either obedience or the church will burn like Hell is burning!” (Miller, 30). The church was the institution dictated moral norms, but these norms were low and call people to obey the church rules rather than common sense. The citizens of Salem thought that is they accused their friends they could save their lives. When Tituba felt danger she accused Goody Good and Goody Osborne of witchcraft to save her own life. Elizabeth, thinking that she is defending her husband, only claims that she fired Abigail because of poor work habits. Proctor asks Elizabeth do not lie, but Hale supposes that Elizabeths lie is a natural one to tell. Hale accused a lot of people in witchcraft, and then became terrified of being accused by those people. They became the victims of their own unmoral behavior. Parris was well aware that the trials are a fraud, but does nothing to help. Miller wrote in the play "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Miller wrote in the play "I have trouble enough without I come five mile to hear him preach only hellfire and bloody damnation. Take it to heart, Mr. Parris. There are many others who stay away from church these days because you hardly ever mention God any more." (Miller, 27). The facts mentioned above prove the idea that only in difficult situations people show their real nature. Understanding the play in its historical context allows readers to look deeply into the roots of the problems discussed in it, and understand peculiarities of the author interpretation. Throughout the play there is a definite blame unmoral behaviour of the people but it is most poignantly and symbolically demonstrated with the rejection of “friends”. To conclude it is possible to say that low morals heated by fear are two very powerful drivers forcing people to forget about human virtues. Read More