Reflection: The Crucible Act I

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is full of Puritan beliefs and values that are clearly expressed throughout the play. It comes as no surprise though because the play is, after all, about people thinking that a sick girl was being cursed or influenced by a witch. There is no way that it could possibly be a regular sickness or sever anxiety over being thought that she was a witch or that she was partaking in demonic practices, which would be a very bad look for the daughter of the town’s pastor. In this time period, people get ran out of town for less severe things than being accused of being a witch.

One example from the book that shows just how gullible people were and what their beliefs were like was when Giles Corey was talking to Reverend John Hale about how his wife was “reading strange books” and how she always hides them when he comes into the room. And then Giles goes on to tell Reverend Hale that one night, when Giles was trying to recite his nightly prayers, he could not remember them and was stunned that when his wife closes the book and then goes out of the house, he can remember the prayers perfectly. He thinks that there may be something weird about those books that make it so he can not remember his prayers. Then the author goes on to tell about how Giles is getting old and his memory is fading and that he only recently learned those prayers, so it is far more likely that his wife was distracting him by reading the books which made him forget, and when she left, he was no longer distracted so he could recite the needed prayers (Miller 40). This shows just how much they attributed everything in this time period to being from the “Devil” if it is bad, and that anything good is from the “Lord”.

I think that the quote “Now mark me, if the Devil is in her you will witness some frightful wonders in this room, so please to keep your wits about you. Mr. Putnam, stand close in case she flies” shows that back then they not only thought that people and objects could be possessed by the Devil and his minions, but that they could make people do things like fly and other unnatural things along those lines (Miller 41).

Pages thirty two through thirty six is just one long paragraph talking about how it was the people like the citizens of Salem who were actually to blame for all of the devil obsession. The church community made up all of these things that were associated with the devil, like sex and having parties which was originally associated with the Greek god Dionysus, and so they made sin look even more appealing to people (Miller 36). They made the devil a major part of their society by the people who were supposed to be the ones “protecting” the public from the “evil”.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: a Play in Four Acts. New York: Penguin, 1976. Print.