The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Casey Darbonne 

Mrs. McGowan

English III

14 September 2016

Crucible Blog Post

RI.11-12.3, 1 – Explain how the opening scene is a catalyst for at least three major events in the play. Be sure to evidence from the text to support the events- The opening scene of The Crucible leads to the major event of Betty Paris’s unconscious state. At the beginning of the play, Abigail Williams drinks chicken blood in order for John Proctor’s wife to die so Abigail could be with John. “Abigail defiantly grabs the rooster from Tituba and violently thrashes it against the kettle, catching blood in her palm and raising it to her lips.” (Miller, Act I).  After doing so, Betty Paris becomes paralyzed and by morning, she lays unconscious. Then, Doctor Griggs examines Betty and finds that he has no cure for her unconscious state and Ann Putnam accuses the Devil for taking hold of Betty. This causes the whole town to become hysterical.

 The opening scene also plays a role in Tituba’s condemnation. In the opening scene of The Crucible, the teenage girls begin to dance naked in the woods. “Hale: Someone called the Devil in that forest! Who was it led you to dance around the fire? You can save yourselves if you tell me who it was. Was there one among you who drank from the kettle? Was there perhaps a casting of spells? Was there!

Mary Warren starts raising her pointing finger toward Abigail.

Abigail: Not I! It wasn’t me. I swear it!

Hale: These two children may be dying! Who?

Abigail: Tituba!” (Miller, Act I).

Even though Abigail Williams was the one who began this crisis in the first place, she decided to blame Tituba for it instead, causing Tituba to be condemned to the Devil. Because Tituba confessed for making deals with the Devil, she was thrown in jail and condemned to the Devil.

The third major event that took place off of the beginning scene was the hanging of John Proctor. First, Abigail lied about drinking the chicken blood because she didn’t want to be charged of witchcraft and she didn’t want anyone to know that she and John Proctor had an affair. Then Abigail accuses Mary Warren of witchcraft, which makes John Proctor confess of his dealings with the Devil because the whole town is accusing the wrong people. By the town accusing the wrong people, this makes John Proctor grow tired of defending his innocence and confesses to dealing with the Devil. “Danforth: I’ll have nothing from you, Mr. Hale! (To Proctor) Will you confess yourself befouled with Hell or do you keep that black allegiance yet? What say you!

Proctor: (Looks out on the breathless crowd) I say you are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore! I say God is dead!” (Miller, Act III)

Because of the town’s mass hysteria, that caused many innocent people’s lives to end. Furthermore, the opening scene is a catalyst for Betty Paris’s unconscious state, Tituba’s life to be thrown in jail and condemned, and John Proctor’s death.

RI.11-12.6, 1 – Explain how the author has use rhetoric in the play to develop his clear argument (appeals - logos, pathos, ethos; rhetorical devices: visit http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?topic_id=2282658&source=pub.pub_details for a solid review of topics you could elaborate on in your post. Please note the text evidence and HOW the author used this evidence to develop rhetoric for his argument in the play.

The author uses pathos in the play to appeal to the reader’s emotions. He uses this so the reader can understand that killing people out of fear causes bad things to happen and causes innocent lives to be lost.

“Sewall: I beseech you, Thomas, it must end now. It has struck the people very hard that so many will not confess. There is a faction here, Thomas, feeding on that news. They are sick of hanging.

Danforth: I tell you Samuel, I shall not rest until every inch of this province belongs again to God.”(Miller, Act II). In this quote, pathos plays a role in the hysteria theme because the town cannot keep killing people based off of inaccurate suspicions. Pathos exists in this play so the readers can see what the town is doing wrong, however the townspeople do not see their acts appalling because of the mass hysteria.

The author uses ethos in the play to prove that Abigail Williams is not a reliable source.

“Danforth:-Did you see Goody Proctor’s spirit and did she stab you as you have charged?

Abigail: Goody Proctor sent her spirit and it stabbed me.” (Miller, Act III).

In this quote, Abigail Williams is lying because she wants to accuse Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft so Abby could be with John. In this case, ethos was used to show the reader that not everyone can be reliable and trustworthy. Because Abigail was not a reliable source, this caused Elizabeth Proctor to be hung.

The author uses logos in the play to show that the majority of the characters did not have logic. In this time period, hysteria overruled logic, which caused a snowball effect to happen because once one person was accused of witchcraft, most of the town was too.

“Danforth: In ordinary crime, witnesses are called to prove guilt or innocence. But witchcraft is an invisible crime; therefore who may witness it? The witch and, of course, the victim. Now we cannot expect the witch to accuse herself, can we? Therefore, we may only rely upon her victims! - And the children certainly testify! Therefore, what is left for a lawyer to bring out?” (Miller, Act III)

In this quote, Judge Danforth believes that his logic makes sense, however he has no actual proof that witchcraft is really happening in the town. Logos was used in this quote because Judge Danforth’s logic did not make sense because, in the send, he was accusing the wrong people. So, hysteria overruled logic because Danforth was accusing people based on the town’s fears of witchcraft.

RI.11-12.2, 1 – What truth is the author attempting to reveal with his play? Cite evidence from the text to support your analysis: The truth that the author is attempting to reveal is that killing people out of fear, will not solve a problem. In this instance, the townspeople are scared that the Devil has come to Salem, so they hang innocent people thinking that killing them would return the Devil back to Hell. “Ann Putnam: It’s the Devil, isn’t it; the Devil is taking hold of them.

Griggs: Oh, Goody Putnam, I know not…” (Miller, Act I).

In the end, however the townspeople end up killing innocent people because of their fear, which is proved to be irrational because the Devil is not actually in Salem.

RI/RL.11-12.2 Thematic Unit Connection, consider these lines from the text:

PROCTOR, with a cry of his whole soul: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!

How does Proctor’s sense of self impact him personally, and in turn, his family and the community of Salem?

Proctor’s sense of self impacts him personally because it gets him hung in the end. He cared about his reputation so much that when he was accused of witchcraft, he did not try hard or long enough to defend his name. Instead, he confessed to witchcraft and when he was tried one more time at court, he confessed again because he didn’t want the townspeople to think that he was lying the second time. Eventually it impacted his family and the community of Salem because Elizabeth Proctor was hung and the community began to believe that witchcraft was real because so many confessed to having deals with the Devil.