The crucible by arthur miller
The crucible by arthur millerA crucible is a severe test, as of patience or belief; a trial. Another definition of the word crucible is a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces. The title signifies the suffering and hardship that the town goes through. The town the story takes place in is governed by a theocracy. A quote from the book says “For good purposes, even high purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies.” Everything that happened in the book, all the events that led up to the execution of many innocent lives and led up to the breaking apart of the theocracy that the town was used to,
contribute to make a difficult time or situation, which is a crucible. The title itself explains that the story is about a complicated time that will test the place the book is based on. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in the year 1692. It starts after a couple of girls have been caught dancing in the woods by Reverend Samuel Parris, the town’s minister. Two of the girls are related to him. Abigail is his niece and Betty is his daughter. When Betty gets sick, rumors start to spread that there is witchcraft involved in her illness because they were out in the woods all by themselves. Salem is a very tightly sheltered town that is pretty much run by the church, which is against the devil and all forms of the devil such as witches , and it is also against enjoyable acts such as dancing. Not only that but in the book the town is described as the following, “They had no novelists--and would not have permitted anyone to read a novel...
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