The Crucible

1. The Crucible by Arthur Miller A witch hunt and a metaphor

2. Arthur Miller … An American playwright who was born in 1915.  His Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer prize in 1949.  Miller wrote The Crucible in 1953 during the McCarthy period when Americans were accusing each other of Pro-Communist beliefs. 

3. Why Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible People thought there were “Commies” everywhere, and one man, Senator Joseph McCarthy, made it his personal mission to find Communists and destroy their lives by bringing them before something called the HOUSE UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE.

4. During the 1950's, Senator Joseph McCarthy accused many American leaders of being communists. This led to many unfounded accusations of people being communist party members. Some people believed McCarthy because they were fearful of communism and he played on those fears. McCarthy was, in effect, conducting "witch hunts.”

5. Senator McCarthy accused many people — actors, writers, people in media, people in the government, and even people in the military — of being Communists. He held hearings where people were commanded to give names of other Communists in order for leniency. People were afraid they might be named as Communists, and it was called the Red Scare. (‘Red’ was a word used for a Communist.)

6. Accused! Many of Miller’s friends were being attacked as communists. • In 1956, Miller himself was brought before the House of Un-American Activities Committee where he was found guilty of beliefs in communism.  The verdict was reversed in 1957 in an appeals court.

7. “Are you now, or have you ever been, a Communist?” Joseph McCarthy asked that question to MANY American citizens. If any person opposed the McCarthy investigations, he or she was accused of being a communist.

8. McCarthy Hearings • Many innocent people were accused of being traitors (communists) to our country and, while they were not physically harmed, their professional and personal lives were ruined by this adverse publicity, which was often untrue. During this period also (as in Salem) many supposed “good people” participated in the accusations against others because they were afraid that if they refused to do so their own lives would be ruined.

9. The Crucible was Arthur Miller’s way of protesting the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. He compared the Communist hearings to the witch hunts of Salem, where gossip, rumors, and fear were evidence enough to convict people. The term “witch hunt” now applies to any activity where people are looking for a scapegoat or where they are using accusations to get revenge or to get personal gain or attention.

10. WHAT IS A WITCH HUNT? witch hunt: noun 1 : a searching out for persecution of persons accused of witchcraft. 2 : the searching out and deliberate harassment of those (as political opponents) with unpopular views 3: a political campaign launched on the pretext of investigating activities subversive to the state. (Merriam-Webster on line)

11. What causes a WITCH HUNT? • Insufficient tolerance for human diversity • Prejudice/Bias • Scape-goating • Persecution of unpopular minority groups • Overblown fear of the unfamiliar • Heightened Emotions • Irrational Fear and Paranoia • Self-Righteousness and Moral Judgment • Blind Idealism • Moral Absolutism and a STRINGENT concept of Purity/Morality • Mob Mentality • Hysteria • Corruption of Power • Self-Absorbed Authority Figures • Greed for AGGRANDIZEMENT

12. Please Do Now! Think about a time that you have been accused of doing something that you didn’t do, or of someone else you know of who was falsely accused. How did you feel about the accusation? Why do you think it was made? What did you do about it? Was it ever disproven? If so, how? Now write a paragraph describing this event, it’s causes and effects, and how it made you feel.

13. The Crucible’sLiterary Merit: Important Concepts PROTEST LITERATURE: (n) literature with a specific political or social aim, an intention to raise awareness or bring about change. (Merriam-Webster on-line) Arthur Miller’s intention was to emphasize the injustice of the McCarthy trials by relating them to a time in history that everyone accepts as morally and legally unjust.

14. The Crucible’sLiterary Merit: Important Concepts ALLEGORY: (n) the expression, by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions, of truths or generalizations about human existence. (Merriam-Webster on-line) Arthur Miller wrote the play as a political and social allegory for McCarthyism. His characters and events represent historical truths.

15. Plot • The Crucible is set against the backdrop of the mad witch hunts of the Salem witch trials in the late 17th century.  It is about a town, after accusations from a few girls, which begins a mad hunt for witches that did not exist.  Many townspeople were hanged on charges of witchcraft.  Miller brings out the absurdity of the incident with the theme of truth and righteousness.  The theme is conveyed through the struggles of Miller’s main character, John Proctor.

16. Plot (cont.) • There is a feud between the Putnam and the Nurse families. They are both wealthy land owners and the Nurses are very respected in town. These families each supported a different minister. The Nurses supported Reverend Parris. • The Proctors preferred to worship in their own house. They felt that the church under Reverend Parris was becoming too materialistic and drifted away from the purpose of the church. Rebecca Nurse was the midwife to the Putnams, she aided the delivery of the babies. Mrs Putnam had eight children, seven of which died, and the Putnams felt that Mrs Nurse had put a curse on the children when they died.

17. Theme Rising over adversity and standing for truth. • Through Proctor’s struggle, Miller displays the struggles within each of our own hearts.  Many times we witness some sort of wrong-doing to another person and choose to not get involved.  However, some people fight to do what is right, just like John Proctor in the story. Would you quit after only saving someone close to you, like Proctor could have done, or would you go for the entire community as Proctor did?

18. The Puritans

19. Puritans Settle in the New World • In the 1600s, Puritans settled on the East coast of the United States. They brought with them the hope of religious freedom, but instead became embroiled in hysteria over the existence of witches. They had been persecuted in their native England, but they created a theocracy and eventually persecuted others.

20. The Puritans were very religious. They felt that people could form pacts with the devil. The devil would do actions for them in this life and then when they died he would have their souls. They believed in witches and felt that they could cast spells on people. The Puritans believed that there were certain signs of a witch.

21. The Puritan Beliefs

22. The Puritans wanted to get rid of the Catholic influence on the Anglican Church.

23. Everyone is born sinful and remains so.

24. Predestination: God only chooses some people for salvation.

25. God’s grace cannot be gained through good works; it can only be given by God

26. People chosen by God can interpret the words and will of God for themselves.

27. The Salem Witch Trials

28. The Salem Witch Trials The people of Salem who believed in witches were no different from their counterparts in England and the rest of Europe. Belief in the existence of witches had been prevalent throughout the earlier centuries and continued into the 17th century. Salem was simply a microcosm of the larger macrocosm.

29. Who WERE these witches? • Most of those accused of being witches were women. • Many were healers and used plants to heal people. • Many were without family, and this made them easy targets. • They were people who did not fit in with the mainstream for some reason.

30. If someone said they had seen the accused with the devil in a dream, or that the accused had visited them in the night, or had hurt them, it was taken as evidence that the devil was at work.

31. One of the ways most witches were accused was with the use of “spectral evidence.” 20 executed 175 to 200 imprisoned

32. The Salem Witch Trials In 1692, several girls in the village of Salem, Massachusetts, became intrigued when a West Indian servant told them stories of magic and voodoo from her native land. Bored and restricted by the oppressive Puritan life, the girls slipped into the woods one night and “conjured” love charms and hexes. One girl, Betty Parris, slipped into unconsciousness when her father caught them. She wouldn’t wake up, and this started the discussion of witchcraft. To avoid punishment, the girls created the story of the “witches” who made them dance and conjure the spells.

33. Why did it happen? It began as a way for the oppressed girls to avoid being punished. It then became an ideal way to get revenge on anyone whom you disliked. People started accusing their neighbors of being witches so they could steal their farmland. People accused others of being witches if they wanted to steal their husbands or wives or possessions.

34. Those accused of being witches were most often found guilty. Sometimes they were sentenced to be tied to a rock dunked in a pond, and if they sank, they were declared innocent. If they somehow survived the dunking, they were obviously witches, and they were executed. Most of those found guilty of witchcraft were hanged. One man was pressed to death with rocks because he refused to plead guilty or innocent, insuring that his sons still inherited his lands.

35. Conclusion • The story reminds its readers of an ugly blemish on human history.  • It reminds us that man is not perfect, and that we can make mistakes.  • However, even with these mistakes, we can overcome them by making what is wrong right.  The sufferings become to the sufferer like a crucible.

36. REFLECTION (250 + words) Based on what you’ve heard about the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy hearings, why do you think Arthur Miller chose to use the period of history (1692) that he chose? Why didn’t he just write about the Red Scare and the McCarthy trials?

37. REFLECTION (250 + words) What are the differences between the McCarthy Trials and The Salem Witch Trials (other than the obvious things, like time periods and clothes, etc.)

38. Discussion • How do you think both of these “witch hunts” were stopped eventually?

39. YOUR ASSIGNMENTS Research and make a list of parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials. Consider events leading up to the trials, the emotions of the people involved, and the trials themselves. Categorize your list as follows: Political Climate, Social Climate, Accusers and Accusations, Trials and Evidence, Contributing Factors. DUE: THURSDAY

40. 60 Second Recap http://www.60secondrecap.com/library/the-crucible/5/ Examine John Proctor as a “TRAGIC HERO”

41. The Crucible and Literary Archetypes • The Crucible includes a few archetype characters: The Tragic Hero/ The Sullied Hero/ The Romantic Hero, The Temptress, The Devil Figure, The Scapegoat. • It also provides a few archetype events: The Crossroads, The Maze • NOTE: We will discuss these archetypes in class.

42. Although archetypal figures are MODEL CHARCTERS or CHARACTER TYPES, they sometimes alter to fit the society they reflect. Take the definition of a TRAGIC HERO, for example. Two men are credited with the definition of differing TRAGIC HEROES. Aristotle Arthur Miller

43. Aristotelian Tragic Hero Born into nobility: Responsible for their own fate Endowed with a tragic flaw Doomed to make a serious error in judgment Eventually, tragic heroes Fall from great heights or high esteem Realize they have made an irreversible mistake Face and accept death with honor Meet a tragic death For all tragic heroes, the audience is affected by pity and/or fear

44. Arthur Miller’s Common Man Tragic Hero Arthur Miller , the author of both Death of a Salesman and The Crucible, argues that a tragic hero need not be of high social standing. He asserts the value in the common man hero –a man with flaws, with meekness. What makes this man a hero is his desire and willingness to fight to maintain his own personal dignity. What makes him relevant to our times is that he exists in everyday life. He is not royalty or rich or on any sort of pedestal from which to fall. He is us. He is every man.

45. The Sullied Hero Tragedy and the Common man Many plays idealize the protagonist in an effort to create a person with whom the audience will sympathize. When employed in a tragedy, this strategy also places that character on a pedestal so that, when he or she falls, the fall will be much greater and more heartbreaking. In contrast, Miller’s protagonist, John Proctor, is not a perfect man. He is FLAWED from the beginning. His FALL is still tragic and the audience can relate to his flaws. The common man is flawed and the audience is full of common men. (New Rep on Tour) Miller states that the flaw, or crack in character, for a common man tragic hero is “nothing but his inherent unwillingness to remain passive in the face of what he conceives to be a challenge to his dignity.” In other words, the hero refuses to give up his place in society and lose his personal pride. He will do anything to keep his good name. (Miller)

46. YOUR ASSIGNMENTS Consider the literary terms introduced in this PowerPoint (sullied hero, common man hero, protest literature, allegory, archetypes). For each term, list at least two examples of literature you’ve read within the last two years or characters from that literature that apply to the terms. For example, list titles of novels or plays you’ve read that include a sullied hero and a common man hero. Indicate what makes the characters in those works sullied/common man heroes.

47. Works Cited • “Allegory.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ • Lequidre, Zorikh. “ The HUAC, McCarthyism, and Witch-Hunts Through Captain Marvel Comics”; Captain Marvel Culture. 2006. www.captainmarvelculture.com/witchhunt.html • Miller, Arthur. “Tragedy and the Common Man." The Theater Essays of Arthur Miller. Viking Press. 1949/1977. Reprinted (by permission of Viking Penguin, Inc.) on The Literary Link. http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html • Study Guide, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. New Rep On Tour: Professional Performance in Your School. Fall, 2007. New Rep Administrative Office. • Oakley, Ronald J. “The Great Fear.” God’s Country: America in the Fifties. Republished in Literature Connections: The Crucible and Related Readings. Illinois. McDougal Littel, 1997. 199-221. • Schutz, Stanley K. , University of Wisconsin History Professor. Lecture 23, “The Coils of Cold War.” American History 102: Civil War to the Present. 2007. http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture23.html • “Sullied Hero.” “Allegory.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ • “Witchhunt.” Merriam Webster On-Line Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/