The Crucible tells a story of young girls blaming people for being involved with the devil and consequently getting them killed. It seems odd to us that people could be so cruel and just watch someone suffer at their expense. The girls in the Crucible are terrified of getting in trouble for dancing in the forest. So they begin to lie, and say that the have been possessed by people living in the town to avoid the consequences they would of had to suffer for dancing in the forest.
Although this concept of blaming people out of fright might seem foreign to us, we experience it on many occasions. I have often blamed my sibling or friends for actions I have committed. At the time I was so scared of getting in trouble that I was willing to blame someone else. While this is not as severe as what took place in the Salem witch trials, it still makes a connection and helps us connect to characters that are terrifyingly immoral.
There have also been other situations in history similar to the Salem witch trials. During the period of the Red Scare, people were terrified of being called a communist. To prevent being thought or labeled as a communist people would blame others around them.
This issue of blaming people for our own mistakes out of fear is still in our everyday lives and shows up countless times in history. Unfortunately characters like Abigail and Betty are more relatable than one might initially think.
It's also hard to address that fear of being ousted as ridiculous without having the benefit of many years of history to see situations. At the time of the Red Scare and of the Salem Witch Trials, it was a legitimate fear that someone could be accused of being a witch or a communist. Now days we know witches aren't real and there were very few communists ousted, but at the time it could have been very scary.
ReplyDeleteI agree with how you said that fear causes people to do things that they wouldn't normally do, such as, lie about what they were doing. This is shown in The crucible many times and people still lie out of fear today.
ReplyDeleteI very much like your blog post. After initially reading Act I of the Crucible, I think of Betty and Abigail as evil, accusing women as witches without justification. After reading your post, however, I have realized that I also relate to these characters and can understand why Betty and Abigail would do such a thing. My guess is they were probably not thinking of the intense implication that would result. Nice post, it has made me realize the Betty and Abigail are not as evil as I initially believed!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that fear causes people to do or say things they wouldn't normally do. I like how you incorporated the Red Scare which was Miller's inspiration. Good work!
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