The Crucible - Act 1

So far in the reading, The Crucible has been about a supposed witchcraft practice in the town of Salem. The people of Salem are very religious. All of the top officials are religious leaders, and most of the citizens hold a high regard to the church. This demonstrates a Puritan lifestyle because society in Salem was extremely centered on God. The Crucible highly reflects Puritan writing for a number of reasons. First off, like all of the other literature we have read so far in English regarding Puritan writing, God is always the main focal point of the Puritans. In a somewhat ironic and different way, The Crucible portrays God as being the center of people’s lives in Salem, but also demonstrates how to devil plays a significant role in certain “witchcraft” worshipping lives. In the opening scene of the story, Parris is praying at the bedside of his ten-year old daughter’s bed. Witchcraft is seen as something very degrading and sinful to the people of Salem. They believe anyone who participates in such nonsense is a worshipper of the devil. This is a good example of the Puritan writing of the time period, because in society today, witchcraft is actually a very popular topic. Back then, anything that had to do with the devil was considered terrible and extreme. Today, more and more people are beginning to follow witchcraft ideas, along with other nonfiction beliefs like wizardry. It has become very accepted nowadays for someone to be accepting of the devil, whereas back then, it was nothing but nonsense. This is an important part of the story’s Puritan writing because it demonstrates how society has significantly changed over the years. Another example of the Puritan writing style portrayed in The Crucible is the fact that it is stressed how bad it is that the church is no longer as popular as it was before the girls of Salem involved themselves in witchcraft. People were so caught up in the idea that girls in Salem were practicing witchcraft that their attention was hardly focused on church at all. In Act I, the girls decide they will not tell anyone what they did in the woods (drinking blood), but only tell the adults that they danced and that Tituba tried to solve the mystery of Ruth’s babies. The girls do not want to tell anyone what actually happened. I think that Betty eventually caves from guilt which then results in Parris finding out the true confession from the girls. I believe they decided not to tell the whole story in the beginning of what happened out of fear. Because Salem’s society was so firmly based on religion, they were more than likely scared of what the adults, and more importantly, God, would do to them in return. Puritan writing is very simple and straightforward. In The Crucible, no extensive symbolism or metaphors are used to entice readers. Because the story is set up as a play, it is easy for readers to understand what is going on between the girls and the citizens of Salem.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.