TheCrucible

_-_-_-_-_The Crucible and current day relations_-_-_-_-_-_-



[|The Crucible preview] The Crucible is a story of deceit and trickery. Abigail Williams, a local girl, has had relations with one of the farmers named John Proctor. John is a married man (married to Elizabeth Proctor a.k.a Good Proctor) and has 2 sons. John Proctor at this point has committed a crime known as lechery and must feel the guilt of not being able to say anything about the matter if ever asked in court. The one thing that John truly holds close to him is the honor of his name. When Abigail becomes jealous of the relationship that John and Goody Proctor have together she places false accusations upon Elizabeth in hopes to eliminate her from the picture. One cold night in Salem is the night in which a group of girls will be caught performing love rituals and chanting witchcraft songs. When the local Minister, Rev. Paris, catches them doing so, believes that witchcrafs in the air. media type="youtube" key="UykN7dbSqE8" width="425" height="350" An intense set of trials in which the group of accused girls (the ones caught dancing in the woods) would unify to eliminate all people that had done wrong to them. Abigail Williams is the leader of the group and a prime selection for accusation was Goody Proctor. These accusations are suspicious but the fact that more then one girl is experiencing these problems is enough to divert away from the suspicion

Abigail Williams was the leader of the girls. She was the one who tried to get all the suspicion off the girls by placing the curses set upon them by other people. These fake curses allowed the girls a way to place blame on people that took the blame off them and at the same time, atleast in Abigail's case, remove people they didn't want in the town.

In total 19 people were hanged because of the accusations placed upon them. With many of the accusations popping up there began to be a pattern of who.The names of the people who were killed are:




 * 1) ====Sarah Good====
 * 2) =====Bridget Bishop=====
 * 3) Rebecca Nurse
 * 4) Ssannah Martin
 * 5) Elizabeth Howe
 * 6) Sarah Good
 * 7) Sarah Wilds
 * 8) George Jacobs Sr.
 * 9) Martha Carrier
 * 10) George Burroughs
 * 11) John Willard
 * 12) John Proctor
 * 13) Martha Cory
 * 14) Margaret Scott
 * 15) Mary Esty
 * 16) Alice Parker
 * 17) Ann Pudeator
 * 18) Wilmott Redd
 * 19) Samuel Wardell
 * 20) Mary Parker
 * 21) Giles Cory

=
When the trials were coming to an end Abigail Williams made the mistake of accusing some people that were very renown in the city. This was the final strawl before the people began to adjust there suspicion to the girls and begin to think that they are showing signs of not being truthful. Near the end of the trials, Abigail Williams stole 31 pounds and departed on a ship to Barbados.=====

"John Proctor, a local farmer, enters Parris’s house to join the girls. Proctor disdains hypocrisy, and many people resent him for exposing their foolishness. However, Proctor is uneasy with himself because he had conducted an extramarital affair with Abigail. His wife, Elizabeth, discovered the affair and promptly dismissed Abigail from her work at the Proctor home. Proctor caustically reminds Mary Warren, who now works for him, that he forbade her to leave his house, and he threatens to whip her if she does not obey his rules. Mercy Lewis and Mary depart. Abigail declares that she waits for Proctor at night. Proctor angers her by replying that he made no promises to her during their affair. She retorts that he cannot claim that he has no feelings for her because she has seen him looking up at her window. He admits that he still harbors kind feelings for her but asserts that their relationship is over. Abigail mocks Proctor for bending to the will of his “cold, sniveling” wife. Proctor threatens to give Abigail a whipping for insulting his wife. Abigail cries that Proctor put knowledge in her heart, and she declares that he cannot ask her to forget what she has learned—namely, that all of Salem operates on pretense and lies. The crowd in the parlor sings a psalm. At the phrase “going up to Jesus,” Betty covers her ears and collapses into hysterics. Parris, Mercy, and the Putnams rush into the room. Mrs. Putnam concludes that Betty is bewitched and cannot hear the Lord’s name without pain. Rebecca Nurse, an elderly woman, joins them. Her husband, Francis Nurse, is highly respected in Salem, and many people ask him to arbitrate their disputes. Over the years, he gradually bought up the 300 acres that he once rented, and some people resent his success. He and Thomas Putnam bitterly disputed a matter of land boundaries. Moreover, Francis belonged to the faction that prevented Putnam’s brother-in-law from winning the Salem ministry. Giles Corey, a muscular, wiry eighty-three-year-old farmer, joins the crowd in the room as Rebecca stands over Betty. Betty gradually quiets in Rebecca’s gentle presence. Rebecca assures everyone that Ruth and Betty are probably only suffering from a childish fit, derived from overstimulation. Proctor asks if Parris consulted the legal authorities or called a town meeting before he asked Reverend Hale to uncover demons in Salem. Rebecca fears that a witch-hunt will spark even more disputes. Putnam demands that Parris have Hale search for signs of witchcraft. Proctor reminds Putnam that he cannot command Parris and states that Salem does not grant votes on the basis of wealth. Putnam retorts that Proctor should not worry about Salem’s government because he does not attend church regularly like a good citizen. Proctor announces that he does not agree with Parris’s emphasis on “hellfire and damnation” in his sermons. Parris and Giles bicker over the question of whether Parris should be granted six pounds for firewood expenses. Parris claims that the six pounds are part of his salary and that his contract stipulates that the community provide him with firewood. Giles claims that Parris overstepped his boundaries in asking for the deed to his (Parris’s) house. Parris replies that he does not want the community to be able to toss him out on a whim; his possession of the deed will make it more difficult for citizens to disobey the church. Parris contends that Proctor does not have the right to defy his religious authority. He reminds Proctor that Salem is not a community of Quakers, and he advises Proctor to inform his “followers” of this fact. Parris declares that Proctor belongs to a faction in the church conspiring against him. Proctor shocks everyone when he says that he does not like Parris’s kind of authority and would love to find and join this enemy faction.Putnam and Proctor argue over the proper ownership of a piece of timberland where Proctor harvests his lumber. Putnam claims that his grandfather left the tract of land to him in his will. Proctor says that he purchased the land from Francis Nurse, adding that Putnam’s grandfather had a habit of willing land that did not belong to him. Putnam, growing irate, threatens to sue Proctor." Reverend Hale is an intellectual man, and he has studied witchcraft extensively. He arrives at Parris’s home with a heavy load of books. Hale asks Proctor and Giles if they have afflicted children. Giles says that Proctor does not believe in witches. Proctor denies having stated an opinion on witches at all and leaves Hale to his work.

Parris relates the tale of finding the girls dancing in the forest at night, and Mrs. Putnam reports having sent her daughter to conjure the spirits of her dead children. She asks if losing seven children before they live a day is a natural occurrence. Hale consults his books while Rebecca announces that she is too old to sit in on the proceedings. Parris insists that they may find the source of all the community’s troubles, but she leaves anyway. Giles asks Hale what reading strange books means because he often finds his wife, Martha, reading books. The night before, he tried to pray but found that he could not succeed until Martha closed her book and left the house. (Giles has a bad reputation in Salem, and people generally blame him for thefts and random fires. He cares little for public opinion, and he only began attending church regularly after he married Martha. Giles does not mention that he only recently learned any prayers and that even small distractions cause him problems in reciting them.) Hale thoughtfully considers the information and concludes that they will have to discuss the matter later. Slightly taken aback, Giles states that he does not mean to say that his wife is a witch. He just wants to know what she reads and why she hides the books from him. Hale questions Abigail about the dancing in the forest, but Abigail maintains that the dancing was not connected to witchcraft. Parris hesitantly adds that he saw a kettle in the grass when he caught the girls at their dancing. Abigail claims that it contained soup, but Parris insists that he saw something moving in it. Abigail says that a frog jumped in. Under severe questioning, she insists that she did not call the devil but that Tituba did. She denies drinking any of the brew in the kettle, but when the men bring Tituba to the room, Abigail points at her and announces that Tituba made her drink blood. Tituba tells Parris and Hale that Abigail begged her to conjure and concoct a charm. Tituba insists that someone else is bewitching the children because the devil has many witches in his service. Hale counsels her to open herself to God’s glory, and he asks if she has ever seen someone that she knows from Salem with the devil. Putnam suggests Sarah Good or Goody Osburn, two local outcasts. In a rising tide of religious exultation, Tituba says that she saw four people with the devil. She informs Parris that the devil told her many times to kill him in his sleep, but she refused even though the devil promised to grant her freedom and send her back to her native Barbados in return for her obedience. She recounts that the devil told her that he even had white people in his power and that he showed her Sarah Good and Goody Osburn. Mrs. Putnam declares that Tituba’s story makes sense because Goody Osburn midwifed three of her ill-fated births. Abigail adds Bridget Bishop’s name to the list of the accused. Betty rises from the bed and chants more names. The scene closes as Abigail and Betty, in feverish ecstasy, alternate in piling up names on the growing list. Hale calls for the marshal to bring irons to arrest the accused witches.

Now how this relates to current events﻿  There have been many recent events in which it proves that people will do anything to get attention. One of the major issues that has occured over the past 9-10 years is the war in Iraq. One of the main events leading up to the war into Iraq is 9-11. This attack on the United States was an attempt to draw attention to the U.S so they many smaller countries would see that the U.S isn't the power house it claims to be. With the 9-11 attack Iraq recived attention from all accross the country as a religious group shows its power. The devistation of the 9-11 attack left thousands dead. When the U.S started to finally make a hard push into Iraq in 2006 the leader of the country, Osama bin Laden, rushed into hiding just like Abigail Williams did when the attention she started to recive turned negative in a way she couldn't lie her way out of. media type="youtube" key="J0Qu6eyyr4c" width="425" height="350"

"SparkNotes: The Crucible: Act I: The Entrance of John Proctor to the Entrance of Reverend Hale." //SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides//. SparkNotes. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. []. "SparkNotes: The Crucible: Act I: The Entrance of Reverend Hale to the Closing Scene." //SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides//. SparkNotes. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. []. "Report: Abusive Tactics Used to Seek Iraq-al Qaida Link | McClatchy." //McClatchy | Homepage//. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. [].