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.

The Crucible written by Arthur Miller to draw parallels between the Salem Witch trials in 1692 and the McCarthy anti-communist hysteria of the 1950s. In the opening of his story, Miller writes: “When one rises above the individual villainy displayed, one can only pity them all, just as we shall be pitied someday. It is still impossible for man to organize his life without repression, and the balance has yet to be struck between order and freedom.” The quote use by Arthur Miller can be applied to the current present day American society. A few problems in society today are government surveillance, gun regulations, and LGBT rights where people backup their options with freedom or order but at the same time they are being repressed by their laws.

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.

An equitable judge should possess judicial temperament, courage, and integrity to make sure the delivery of an accountable justice process for the people. On the contrary, Danforth is a selfish and arrogant man who only cares about his own interests. His flawed personalities and hypocritical attitudes make him sightless and irrational throughout the witchcraft, which directly causes the calamity in the town. Danforth feels embarrassment and doesn’t know what to do when Proctor brings Mary Warren’s deposition which shows his previous judgment is wrong. He is baffled and find a reason to defend himself, “ There lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit, Any desire to undermine this court? Are you in all respects a Gospel

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.

The novel, The Crucible was written in 1953 by Arthur Miller, which was based on the Salem Witch Trials existing in the late 1600s. In the play, Abigail and several other young women accuse innocent citizens of Salem for the action of witchcraft. During the trials, many individuals were unfairly persecuted; such as John Proctor. This event in history may be associated with the Red Scare, in which individuals were tried for their questionable influences of communism in the United States. When Miller compares the character of John Proctor to himself, the reader is able to relate the similar experiences that both men faced. The Crucible demonstrates the struggle against corruption involving the court, which lead to the death of many innocent individuals in Salem. The Crucible generates an allegory for Arthur Miller’s struggles with McCarthyism because of his similar experience relating to John Proctor’s battle against the Salem Witch Trials, and the relation between the actions of the court in both situations. Arthur Miller uses several writing methods in order to convey The Crucible as an allegory for his struggles with McCarthyism. Miller demonstrates how the Crucible represents an allegory for his conflict with McCarthyism by relating his experiences with the plot of the novel. Miller relates the novel to his struggles by stating, “Should the accused confess, his honesty could only be proved by naming former confederates.” (Are You Now… 34) Miller is explaining how the court

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.

Danforth played a major role in the hanging of the witch trial, as he was the one who believed the girls’ one-sided claims and signed off many known Christians to hang. He believes in the girls’ ridiculous accusations even though they are not backed up by solid evidence, “Do you know, Mr Proctor, that the entire contention of the state in these trials is that the voice of heaven is speaking through the children?” However, Danforth was, to some extent, trying to keep his reputation in society as overruling his previous verdicts would show his failure as a judge. Danforth is suspicious -paranoid, even- that anyone who does not confess is trying to challenge the court’s authority, and uses their scepticism as “proof” of them practising witchcraft. “There lurks nowhere in your heart, nor hidden in your spirit, any desire to undermine is court?” Danforth questions Proctor when the latter reasons with him to free Elizabeth Proctor. Danforth was also trying to avoid carrying responsibility for any injustice in the trial by refusing to change his views. Danforth was “a grave man… exact loyalty to his position and his cause.”, who didn’t dare to change his previous rulings in fear that he would expose the court’s weakness and be blamed for the hangings. Danforth was extremely stubborn and misinformed, but he did not have any other choice except to keep trusting the girls’

Generally people are fickle and stubborn in nature, when one’s own belief is challenged they are quick to refute any evidence against it. This idea of “Wooden-headedness” is present throughout many mediums in life, whether it’s the wooden headedness shown by characters in The Crucible or by the Chicago Meat Company in the 1800s through 1900s or the attitudes of early researchers on women as shown by Stephen J. Gould in “Women’s Brains”. The prevalence of wooden-headedness has played and still plays a negative role in all aspects of human life. The play The Crucible takes place during the period of the salem-witch trials, and it tells the story of a town where women are being accused of witchcraft unrightfully.

The definition of justice differs for everyone. Some believe that justice is a form of revenge and is not always necessary, and other believe that it is needed in many situations. The idea of justice usually comes down to a person’s morals and ideals. In one instance in the short story “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Delia finds justice against her husband after years of abuse. Comparatively, in “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, the father Abner sees his outright jealously-filled revenge as justice. These two versions of justice are almost completely opposite, but in both character’s eyes their actions are justifiable.

Many Americans were seeking vengeance for those Americans killed by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor and in the town of Salem some were seeking vengeance for previous wrong doings both reasons helped feed the mass hysteria because many wanted vengeance at all cost no matter who they dragged on the way and what the consequences were. In Salem the ringleader Abigail Williams one of the 1st girls accused of witchery, who accuses the wife of John Proctor Elizabeth Proctor of witchery. Abigail’s accusation of Elizabeth Proctor being involved with witchery is seen as an act of vengeance by John because of the past Abigail and he had. Abigail is angry that John would much rather “cut off [his] hand before [he’ll] ever reach for [her] again” so she takes

Justice, confession and witch trials take an enormous amount of action in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The justice system in Salem is ignorant and seems corrupt from the perspective of modern days. Governor Danforth is one of the main characters in the court. He believes that he is doing the right thing in his eyes but in reality is an unknowledgable judge in the eyes of wise people. One of the wisest characters is John Hale.

Arthur Miller’s The Crucible reveals the true colors of society and the desperation to dispel fear in any possible way. The witch trials of Salem killed many innocent women in hopes to protect the town from evil created by a group of girls who tried to hide their own mistakes. Miller incorporates many allegories to the McCarthy trials which possessed the same reasoning for unjustified trials. Miller uses syntax, the complexity of his characters and the political battle of his time to portray in his play The Crucible how environment and social pressure can blur the lines of personal morals and society’s hunger for justice.

What is justice? Is it a means through which one can gain success, or a medium through which one can accomplish their personal wants and desires? Or is the word Justice just a façade we use to please our own selves, regardless of whether what takes place around us is just or not. I am Reverend John Hale, and I for one am confused as to what Justice actually is or what it is meant to do.

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.