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Fear and personal ambition were the driving forces behind the witch hunt. Discuss in reference to The Crucible.
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The crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a vivid depiction of the 1692 witch hunts that plagued the town of Salem for almost 15 months. Despite multiple historical inaccuracies, Miller used his play to convey how an overwhelming sense of fear and desire for personal ambition can damage the integrity of man. If it were not for basic human nature, fear and greed, the events of 1692 would not have occurred with the same vigor and force as they did. Both the society of Salem, collectively, and the individuals of Salem contributed to this hysteria, holding fears that compelled them to comply with the absurdities that the witch hunt posed. The personal ambitions of those in the society, such as revenge and greed, further encouraged this compliance, resulting in, what was, the fatal flaw of the Salem community. This was derived from the Miller’s own personal experiences of McCarthyism in the 1950’s, fuelling the themes of fear and personal ambition in the play.
Fear was largely responsible for the pursuit of witches in 1692 Salem, providing a basis for both allegations, and confessions throughout the hysteria. Unlike the personal ambitions of those in Salem, which manifested in the greedy and powerful, the fear that was invoked throughout Salem was evident in everyone, neglectful of class and power. Due to the puritan nature of Salem, which regarded morals and religion in high esteem, the theocratic state was created “to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies.” This combination of government and religion progressively consumed Salem, creating a society that demanded obedience and conformity. The idea that is posed by the presence of “the invisible world” in Salem threatens to destroy the very existence to which the people of Salem have become accustomed to. Individuality, the breakdown of society and the unknown threaten to destroy Salem, but despite this, it is the fear of authority, consequences, persecution, accusation, and, above all else, death, that motivated the people of Salem to neglect the truth and seek to prolong a destructive lie. The fears of each individual can easily be identified, whether of a large significance in the play or of little to no significance. Even Mary Warren speaks to convey her fear, “She’ll kill me for sayin’ that! Abby’ll charge lechery on you, Mr. Proctor...She’ll ruin you with it, I know she will”, not only demonstrating a fear of Abigail, but also of death and reputation. The emotive way in which Miller portrays his characters fears and the dialect used allows the audience to relate to the situation each individual character faces. His consistent and prominent use of the phrase “unnatural causes” perfectly depicts the fear of Satanism and the unknown within Salem. Miller constructed his play to show the devastation that the fears embedded in Salem caused, making each characters individual qualms apparent through the use of repetitive phrases and emphasis. His extensive emphasis on the fears of the individuals present in Salem exemplifies the significance of these fears, showing that, without these fears, the people of Salem would have had no reason to prolong the hunts.
The personal ambitions of many of the influential characters in the play also provided reasons to prolong the witch-hunts. Greed, revenge, jealousy, wealth and land lust manifested through these characters, more obviously identified as the “evil” characters. This meant that the “suspicions and envy of the miserable toward the happy could and did burst out in the general revenge”. Although the motivations of each character differed greatly, each contributed the further aggravation of the hysteria. Abigail Williams is a prime example of this, whose lust for John Proctor and jealousy of Elizabeth Proctor led to the eventual instigation of the witch-hunts. These pre-existing rivalries present in Salem become more evident throughout the play’s progression, even being addressed by Miller towards the play’s beginning through Rebecca Nurse. The proposal of Satanism in Salem “will set them all to arguin’ again in the society”, thrusting the prominence of these rivalries on the reader and foreshadowing the events to come. It presents that the community will be thrown into dispute over the potential Satanism, and forecasts the turmoil that will eventuate if these events are to take place. Miller not only uses his characters to depict how the negative effects of one’s personal ambition can influence a society, but also uses the personal ambitions of his characters to comment on how when one’s intent towards a goal is so strong society can become inhumane. In a time where reputation determines one’s importance in society, an individual’s desire for said reputation can lead to the manipulation of actions and the eventual loss of integrity. The fears of Salem allowed the witch-hunts to continue over time, but the personal ambitions of the individuals provided the momentum that caused the witch-hunts to so significantly spin out of control.
It was obvious that the fear and personal ambitions that overwhelmed Salem were the driving forces behind the witch-hunt, but somewhat less obvious was the intention of playwright Arthur Miller, who intended to draw a parallel between his own personal experiences with McCarthyism and the events of 1692. During the 1950’s, Joseph McCarthy, a US Republican Senator, embarked on a hostile and ascetic hunt for communism in America, notably accusing playwright Arthur Miller of sympathizing communists. The Crucible is Arthur Miller’s literary response to these events, suggesting that those who refuse to be cowered by authority that has run astray, and who maintain loyalty to their friends in the process are better than people who cave in. Miller draws similarities between his own afflictions and those of the characters in the play. Evident of this is the parallel which is drawn between the theocratic state, the court that is convened to examine the charges of witchcraft and the church, and the House Un-American Activities Committee. The theocratic state, shown to be Danforth, Hathorne and even Parris, are, in their own rights, doing good by prolonging the witch-hunts. Their limited education and ignorance, due to the time period and structure of society, made them seemingly unaware of the damage that their presence was inflicting in Salem. As they had been taught a person “is either with this court or he must be counted against it”, showing, not only the lack of moral education, but the high regards in which they held their reputations. This regard for reputation can also be seen with the capitalists of 1950, who were determined to remain a united force, tearing down anyone who confronted them. Miller’s basis for the play may have derived from his experiences with McCarthyism, but it was the emotion of fear and the force of personal ambition that the McCarthyism invoked in Miller, that truly provided the fuel for his play.
Despite the many factors that influenced the witch-hunts, none were more influential than the emotion of fear and the desire that personal ambition invoked in the people of Salem. Miller was able to depict how fear can thrust a society to the brink of inhumanity by drawing a parallel between his experiences with McCarthyism and the events that occurred in Salem. The personal ambitions of those in the town were also used to show how man can manipulate others if their desire is great enough and how basic human nature can cause the demise of even the greatest of men.
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