Free Essays on Crucible

John Proctor And Willy Loman: The Tragedies Of Two Common Men Are John Proctor and Willy Loman common men? Are they tragic heroes? Using information from Arthur Miller’s essay, â€Å"Tragedy and the Common Man†, both men can be defined as common, and both men can be defined as tragic heroes. Miller’s essay also characterizes the plays â€Å"The Crucible† and â€Å"Death of a Salesman† as tragedies in modern literature. According to Miller, the quality that shapes the image of the common man is one that â€Å"derives from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world† (Miller, Tragedy of the Common Man). Both John Proctor and Willy Loman share this fear, and both regard their reputations in society very highly. Proctor’s fear of being displaced is evident in the last act when he refuses to sign the confession stating that he practiced witchcraft. Procter declares, â€Å"I have given you my soul; leave me my name!†(Miller, The Crucible, Act IV). This quote implies that Procter values maintaining his chosen image as a good and holy man over his soul, which in his religious society is also regarded very highly. Willy Loman lives in a fantasy world where he believes that he is extremely successful and loved by all. At one point Willy states â€Å"I’m the New England man. I am vital in New England.†(Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act 1). Later in the play Willy refuses a job offered to him by Charley, because he fears that accepting the job will tear him away from his chosen image if being the best, thus categorizing him as a common man by Millers standards. Because John Proctor and Willy Loman regard their reputations and dignity so highly and fear the possibility of these qualities being degraded, they are considered common men. Miller describes that the tragic element in a tragic hero is â€Å"evoked... Free Essays on Crucible Free Essays on Crucible A Major Theme of The Crucible According to the Webster’s Dictionary, a crucible is â€Å"a vessel in which metal is heated to a high temperature and melted for the purposes of casting†. It can also be referred to a situation in which a person has to make a decision that can be critical to his morals and principles. There are many interpretations of the word crucible as there is for the theme of Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible. Closely related to the word â€Å"crucifixion†, The Crucible is about a man put in a crucible situation, who is forced to choose between life and morality, just as Jesus Christ did. Miller interweaved these scenarios to form the main themes of the play – the problem of making the right moral choice and the necessity of sacrifice as a means of redemption. Both of these themes can be abridged to form one main theme, good versus evil. Based on the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century, The Crucible explores the vulnerability of a society and the difficulty of doing ‘good’ in the face of evil and tremendous social pressures. The play is about a town, Salem, Massachusetts, and the hysteria its residents go through because of the witchcraft accusations made by the young girls and countless other people of the region. These accusations, we learn in the novel, are not true and are merely stories to put the blame of someone’s mistakes or wrongdoings to someone else. The accusers are just trying to find scapegoats for their shortcomings. This is where good versus evil takes place. There are numerous â€Å"good† characters in the novel that try to prove that there are no such things as witches, as well as â€Å"bad† who use the trials for their own gain, and the plot revolves around their struggle against each other. One of the many cases where good versus evil is portrayed is through the situation between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams. Abigail Williams is the niece of Reverend Parris, a renowned preache... Free Essays on Crucible John Proctor And Willy Loman: The Tragedies Of Two Common Men Are John Proctor and Willy Loman common men? Are they tragic heroes? Using information from Arthur Miller’s essay, â€Å"Tragedy and the Common Man†, both men can be defined as common, and both men can be defined as tragic heroes. Miller’s essay also characterizes the plays â€Å"The Crucible† and â€Å"Death of a Salesman† as tragedies in modern literature. According to Miller, the quality that shapes the image of the common man is one that â€Å"derives from the underlying fear of being displaced, the disaster inherent in being torn away from our chosen image of what and who we are in this world† (Miller, Tragedy of the Common Man). Both John Proctor and Willy Loman share this fear, and both regard their reputations in society very highly. Proctor’s fear of being displaced is evident in the last act when he refuses to sign the confession stating that he practiced witchcraft. Procter declares, â€Å"I have given you my soul; leave me my name!†(Miller, The Crucible, Act IV). This quote implies that Procter values maintaining his chosen image as a good and holy man over his soul, which in his religious society is also regarded very highly. Willy Loman lives in a fantasy world where he believes that he is extremely successful and loved by all. At one point Willy states â€Å"I’m the New England man. I am vital in New England.†(Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act 1). Later in the play Willy refuses a job offered to him by Charley, because he fears that accepting the job will tear him away from his chosen image if being the best, thus categorizing him as a common man by Millers standards. Because John Proctor and Willy Loman regard their reputations and dignity so highly and fear the possibility of these qualities being degraded, they are considered common men. Miller describes that the tragic element in a tragic hero is â€Å"evoked... Free Essays on Crucible The madness of the Salem with trials is explored I great detail. There are many theories as to why the with trials come about, the most popular of which is the girls’ suppressed childhoods. However, there were other factors as well, such as Abigail Williams’ affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors held against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village. From a historical viewpooint, it is known that young girls in colonial Massachusetts were given little or no freedom to act like children. They were expected to walk straight, arms by their sides, eyes slightly downcast, and their mouths were to be shut unless otherwise asked to speak. It is not surprising that the girls would find this type of lifestyle very constricting. To rebel against it, they played pranks, such as dancing in the woods, listening to slaves’ magic stories and pretending that other villagers were bewitching them. The crucible starts after the girls in the village have been caught dancing in the woods. As one of them falls sick, rumors start to flu that there is witchcraft gong on in the woods, and that the sick girls is bewitched. Once the girls talk to each other, they become more and more frightened of being accused by saying, ‘I go back to Jesus; I kiss his hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!† Another girl, Betty, continues the cry with, ‘I saw George Jacobs with the Devil! I saw Goody Howe with the Devil!† From here on, the accusations grow and grow until the jails overflow with accused witches. It must have given them and incredible sense of power when the whole town of Salem listened to their words and believed each and every accusation. After all, children were to be seen and not heard in Puritan society, and the new found attention was probably overwhelming. The girls were called before the judges...