The Crucible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

The Crucible - Essay Example The Crucible explored this theme in the context of the 1692 Salem Witch trials. A man called Senator Joe McCarthy began McCarthyism, who exploited the American fears about Communism and managed to create a national campaign against Communists. McCarthy was gradually brought into disrepute and in 1954 he was removed as Chairman of the Committee after it was proved that he and his associates had been falsifying evidence. However, the witch-hunt continued for a few years and Arthur Miller himself was called in front of the committee in 1956. Miller refused to give the names of friends who might have been interested in Communism. As a result Miller was fined for contempt of Congress. Miller related McCarthyism and the witchcraft in Salem because in both circumstances, innocent people were punished. Miller is widely proclaimed as a moral writer whose aim is to bring out the good in man rather than bad. Through his play, The Crucible, he attempted with the problem of evil in the man and to provide a solution to this problem. Miller can argue in this way as he believes that all men have a basic concept of what is good in their minds. Through his play, he attempts to bring out this basic goodness in people by shocking them with evil. The writer presents most of the people in his play as being land grabbing, superstitious, vindictive, revengeful, cowardly, adulterous and downright evil. This makes the plot more of a battle between good and bad, both internal and external to man. The battle between good and evil has always been gripping to the mankind from ages. Miller uses this simple philosophy and blends it American history to create the play, The Crucible. The play, The Crucible, is divided into 4 acts, completely different from each other, yet have a realistic connection. Miller's style is very simple He uses simple sentence structure with a simple vocabulary, but makes sure that the suspense in the plot is not taken away. He makes the plot and idea interesting by foreshadowing future events. At the end of first act, two different scenes of Betty's room and the discussion of Procter and Abigail are left incomplete and make the audience guessing. At the end of second act, the good name of Procter in the society is kept at stake for the life of Elizabeth, wife of Procter. This creates the tension in the play, which is sustained at the end of third act also. Sentenced for death, Procter's character is put to the ultimate test. The tension is created in these waves. Each time the atmosphere is calm, it makes audience anticipate a climax. But at the end of each act, there is hysteria. There is no real break-through, but a twist in the story. Tension in the play is sustained by swinging the play from one end to other. Betty is lying unconscious on the bed within a few moments, the room is full of people and very soon, they are all shouting and arguing. Because there are so many people coming and going, this creates a sense of confusion. Miller does this because he wants the audience to feel a little of the same confusion as the characters in the play Miller makes the characters speak at different speeds sometimes quick, sometimes slow, which creates tension, it sounds more realistic. Miller sometimes has the characters i